Last Updated on April 8, 2022 by Solar System Ambassador Pam Roller
Here’s an update from our local Solar System Ambassador Pam Roller:
With April designated as National Poetry Month, it seems fitting to explore the relationship between spaceflight and poetry.
The astronauts’ experiences on lunar missions and on long-duration expeditions aboard the International Space Station provide unique perspectives shared through their poems. Other astronauts enjoyed reading poetry while in space, and then sharing them with people on Earth.
Included in this article are photos of astronauts and samples of their poetry; technical in nature, but you may enjoy.
On Dec. 14, 1972, shortly after waking up on the last morning of their stay on the lunar surface, Apollo 17astronaut Harrison H. “Jack” Schmitt shared his adaptation of the poem “The Night Before Christmas.”
The Expedition 1 crew of NASA astronaut William M. Shepard and a Captain in the U.S. Navy; honored a naval tradition of writing a poem as the first entry of the New Year in the ship’s log.
Click the link to
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/exploring-space-and-poetry-during-national-poetry-month
Credits: NASA, John Uri at NASA Johnson Space Center