I want to begin by drawing poetic synergy regarding naming those NASA missions back in the 1960s and spotlight NASA's manager Abe Silverstein as he decided to call them after the Greek god Apollo.
And in reflection on determining the missions name, Abraham Silverstein, who later became the recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Medal, comments endearingly,
"𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰'𝒅 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚."
Silverstein chose that particular name at home one evening, early in 1960, because, in his words felt;
"𝑨𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆."
Lyrics (Excerpt)
𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒘
𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉
It's thanks to the crew of Apollo 8, where lunar module pilot Bill Anders photographed Earth rising above the barren surface of Earth's Moon. Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to the Moon and the first time our planet was seen with human eyes rising above the horizon of another planetary body, our Earth-Moon.
This mission was made famous because of astronaut Bill Anders' photograph, perfectly known as Earthrise, which became the most influential environmental image ever and a defining moment of the 20th century.
Knowing the impact this photo made on the world and combining this image with the story of the 7th movement was going to be a powerful partnership to help amplify the message for the crowning moment of this symphony. And this was my musical mission.
Day 3 - Libretto Excerpt "Brave the Lunar Crew"
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