Astronaut Neil Armstrong describing what space looks like from the moon is so surreal

Neil Armstrong and his spectacular achievement of being the first person to walk on the moon are known to all. While people love the peace and calm the moon and sky bring, Armstrong enjoys the privilege of being the first human to enjoy a unique view of space right up from the moon. Though many emotions might have flooded his mind on his legendary accomplishment, the astronaut tried to encapsulate the surreal feeling of watching the infinite space and the Earth from the surface of the moon in an interview with BBC in 1970. A page on X titled Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) shared an excerpt from the interview and in it, the description by Armstrong offers a vivid perspective compared to what we see here on Earth. 

The interviewer acknowledged Armstrong’s feelings from the time he reached the moon, making history. However, he asked the astronaut to describe what space looked like from where he was. “Could you tell us what the sky actually looks like from the moon?” the interviewer questioned. Armstrong recalled his experience and proceeded, “The sky is deep black when viewed from the moon as when viewed from cislunar space, the space between the Earth and the moon.” He further explained that the Earth and the sun were only the visible objects he was able to see from the moon.

The astronaut acknowledged some reports that mentioned the visibility of other planets but he personally wasn’t able to see the same. “The Earth is quite beautiful from space. It looks quite small and remote but very blue and covered with white lines and clouds,” Armstrong said. He also vividly remembered spotting the continents clearly, although there was a vast distance. The interviewer further asked Armstrong about the sun. To this, the astronaut replied, “The glare from the sun on the helmet visor was too difficult to pick up the corner. The only time we could see the corona was when we were flying from the moon's shadow.”

Though very new and confusing, Armstrong enjoyed a spectacularly authentic view of space from different angles, learning so much more. After Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin was the second person to set foot on the moon and he penned a letter to Barry Goldman, then a professor at the University of Maryland. Shared by Letters of Hope, Buzz’s words were nothing short of hope and inspiration. Buzz began the letter by saying, “I have often described the moon as a 'magnificent desolation.'"

He continued, "Its rocky horizon curved against the deep black of space, making it perfectly obvious that we were standing on a ball spinning through the universe."  He then added, “A billion people were watching me on television. Human beings had never been farther away than we were nor had more people thinking about them!" The astronaut further shared how he felt about his accomplishment and the many hopes he had for their achievement. "I have snapshots of myself on the moon that will always remind me of that strange and fascinating place. Someday in the future, as people are mulling over their vacation plans, I hope they’ll choose to fly into space,” he remarked. As Buzz described the mission, it was indeed "the trip of a lifetime.”