The Astronaut Who Knelt on the Moon

In July 1971, Colonel James Irwin stood on the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 mission. He looked up from the grey dust — not at sky, because there was none — and saw Earth, a blue marble hanging in absolute blackness. No wind. No birdsong. No human voice for 240,000 miles in any direction. And in that silence, Irwin felt the presence of God more powerfully than he ever had on Earth.…