THE CULTURE OF PEACE TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

O n July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon. Back on Earth, the voice of Mission Control guiding them through the tense final descent belonged to astronaut Charles Duke Jr., who was serving as CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator). When the lunar module touched down, Armstrong radioed, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Duke replied, “Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.” That brief radio exchange was humanity’s first inter-celestial conversation and made Charles Duke the first human voice from Earth to be heard on the surface of the Moon. Three years later, in April 1972, Duke himself landed on the Moon as Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 16, becoming the tenth person—and, at the age of 36, the youngest—to walk on its surface. On February 21, 2008, two members of the Center for Peace & Spirituality International, Dr. Rajat Malhotra and Dr. Sadia Khan, met Charles Duke at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi for an interview. As a keepsake of the meeting, Duke gave them a signed photograph of himself in a spacesuit on the lunar surface. The interview focused on spirituality. Reflecting on his life, Duke said: “From the beginning, there was no peace in my life. I thought going to the Moon would give me peace. I thought this great career as an astronaut, all these goals and these accomplishments, would THE VOICE FROM MISSION CONTROL Charles Duke’s Spiritual Awakening