Looking Back October 1969

In July 1969, Apollo 11, crewed by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, put the first men on to the surface of the moon. In interviews after their return, Buzz Aldrin gave this touching account of a communion on the lunar surface.

Communion On The Moon

In his account of the moon landing, serialised in the Daily Mail, Astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin describes a Communion which he served himself before stepping on to the lunar surface.

“At a service at home, two weeks before flight time, Dean Woodruff (Aldrin’s pastor from Webster Presbyterian Church) had celebrated a special Communion for our flight. After the service he gave me a miniature chalice which I stowed in the lunar module with a small amount of bread and wine.

“Just after Mike had passed over us one revolution after our landing, when we knew we were going to be on the moon for a while, I unstowed these elements and put them on a little table I had in front of the abort guidance system computer. During my requested air-to-ground silence, I read some passages from the Bible and celebrated communion.”

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