I went to the Newseum today to see a program on the Apollo 8 mission. All three astronauts were there for the 40th anniversary of the mission: Frank Borman , James Lovell and William Anders . (Lovell was also on board the Apollo 13 mission.) The crew is best known for reading Genesis from the Bible , live from space.

They were the first to see the far side of the moon, and they did it– in their words– to “beat the Commies.” They have an interesting perspective on the future of NASA . Because the space program was fueled by the Cold War , it was popular and easy to fund. They agreed that this is not the cast today.

The three also had an interesting perspective about the media . Although they were too busy to notice the impact of the coverage before and during their mission, they agree it was a positive experience. When asked what the media can do today to bring about more interest in the space program, the three said not much. They don’t blame the media for a lack of interest– instead, they blame the audience. Anders even said hardly anyone watches the NASA channel, which got a lot of nervous laughs. The event was being broadcast from the Newseum’s Inside Media program, live on the NASA channel .

Then, they talked about aliens. Nope– no aliens on the moon. Not even the dark side of the moon. But they do believe there is intelligent life somewhere else, perhaps in another universe.

Where should the NASA go next? The three say it’s still premature to be going to Mars when it’s been so long since someone has been on the moon. And in their opinion , the moment the flag was stuck into the ground on the moon, the space program’s mission was complete and the journey was virtually over.

But I think most of us can say there is something intriguing about space and astronauts. I met an astronaut for the first time when I was in middle school, and ever since I’ve wanted to be an astronaut– but only if I can report live from space.

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