Apollo 8 was the first mission to circle the Moon. On Christmas Eve, December 24, after a conversation about the Astronauts thoughts on the Moon, Borman announced the crew had a message they would like to send.
Then Anders said:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Lovell continued: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
And Borman ended: And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
And from the crew of Apollo 8, we pause with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.
Late Christmas Eve, the crew prepared for the return. At 11:42 the spaceship vanished around the far side of the Moon while Mission Control waited for communication to be established again. Would the spacecraft still be in orbit, or would it be on its way home? At 12:10 December 25 the engines were fired. For 37 minutes Mission Control waited out the silence. Then the words came:
Apollo 8, over! Mission Control erupted in cheering Borman informed them : Please be informed, there is a Santa Clause. The first men around the Moon were safely on their way home. By Leon Steyn
Kamis, 18 Desember 2008
What is the Winter Solstice?
In ancient times, the Chinese people celebrated the Winter Solstice Festival (Dong Zhi) by visiting relatives and friends, in much the same way as the Chinese Lunar New Year. There is customary feasting, and businesses will close up for the day. Glutinous floor balls known as "tang yuan" are consumed as a symbol of family unity and harmony on this day.
But what is the winter solstice, exactly?
A solstice is an astronomical term used when describing the day of the year when the sun is furthest from the equator. Two solstices exist, consisting of one solstice during the summer, which lengthens the day to the maximum, and another solstice during the winter, which shortens the day to the minimum during the year. Timing of these vary depending on which particular hemisphere you are focusing on.
A solstice is created when the earth tilts away from the sun for a particular hemisphere. While the earth is orbiting around the sun, it is also spinning on its axis. This tilting results in one hemisphere being nearer to the sun, causing the summer while the adjacent hemisphere is further away, causing the winter.
The word solstice is derived from "solstitium", which is a Latin word. The word solstitium is derived from the Latin word "sol", or sun, and "stitium", which translates to stop. When the solstice occurs, the sun looks like it has done exactly that. It reaches nearly the same elevation at noon every day during the several days prior to and following the solstice.
In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on either December 21st or 22nd each year when the sun appears directly above the tropic of Capricorn. For the southern hemisphere, the 20th or 21st of June is the winter solstice, which takes place when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Cancer.
The winter solstice marks the day of the year that has the shortest amount of daylight and the longest amount of night. This is the midpoint of winter for many culture's calendars. Amazingly, in over three thousand years, the date of solstice has been moved by only a single day.
Since the bright part of the day starts to lengthen, seeming to signify rebirth of the sun, winter solstice is celebrated by various cultures as a time of new birth. By Henry Fong
But what is the winter solstice, exactly?
A solstice is an astronomical term used when describing the day of the year when the sun is furthest from the equator. Two solstices exist, consisting of one solstice during the summer, which lengthens the day to the maximum, and another solstice during the winter, which shortens the day to the minimum during the year. Timing of these vary depending on which particular hemisphere you are focusing on.
A solstice is created when the earth tilts away from the sun for a particular hemisphere. While the earth is orbiting around the sun, it is also spinning on its axis. This tilting results in one hemisphere being nearer to the sun, causing the summer while the adjacent hemisphere is further away, causing the winter.
The word solstice is derived from "solstitium", which is a Latin word. The word solstitium is derived from the Latin word "sol", or sun, and "stitium", which translates to stop. When the solstice occurs, the sun looks like it has done exactly that. It reaches nearly the same elevation at noon every day during the several days prior to and following the solstice.
In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on either December 21st or 22nd each year when the sun appears directly above the tropic of Capricorn. For the southern hemisphere, the 20th or 21st of June is the winter solstice, which takes place when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Cancer.
The winter solstice marks the day of the year that has the shortest amount of daylight and the longest amount of night. This is the midpoint of winter for many culture's calendars. Amazingly, in over three thousand years, the date of solstice has been moved by only a single day.
Since the bright part of the day starts to lengthen, seeming to signify rebirth of the sun, winter solstice is celebrated by various cultures as a time of new birth. By Henry Fong
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