Apollo Expeditions to the Moon
THE PLAN IN RETROSPECT
In thinking back over the flights of Apollo, I am impressed at the intrinsic excellence
of the plan that had evolved. I have, of course, somewhat oversimplified its evolution,
and there were times when we became discouraced, and when it seemed that the
sheer scope of the task would overwhelm us in some areas there were surprises and other
areas proceeded quite naturally and smoothly.
|
Gemini launches drew hundreds of thousands of
spectators, awed by the roar, flame, and smoke of
the big Titan II booster. Viewers clogged the highways
and camped by roadsides. Millions of others
watched launchings an television, and the astronauts
received tumultuous welcomes on their return. The
launch at left is Gemini V, which carried Astronauts
Cooper and Conrad for 120 revolutions of the Earth
during August 1965. Fuel cells had their first space
test an this flight.
|
| | |
First U.S. rendezvous in space occurred an December 15,
1965, when Gemini VI found and came
within 6 feet of Gemini VIl, which had been
launched 11 days earlier. Picture below was shot by
Tom Stafford, aboard Gemini VI with Wolly Schirra.
The other spacecraft, shown here at a range of 37
feet, was flown by astronauts Borman and Lovell in
a flight lasting more than 330 hours. Rendezvous
proved entirely feasible but tricky to manage with
minimum fuel use.
|
The most cruel surprise in the program was the loss of three astronauts in the
Apollo fire, which occurred before our first manned flight. It was difficult for the country
to understand how this could have occurred, and it seemed for a time that the program
might not survive. I believe that the self-imposed discipline that resulted, and the
ever-greater efforts on quality, enhanced our chances for success, coming as they did
while the spacecraft was being rebuilt and final plans formulated.
The pogo problem was another surprise. Like the fire, it showed how dif'ficult
it was to conquer this new ocean of space. Fortunately, intensive and brilliant work
with the big Saturns solved the problem with the launch rocket, permitting the flights to
proceed without mishap.
| | |
Astronaut Edward H. White
was the first American to step
outside in space. Jim McDivitt,
Gemini IV's command pilot,
took this picture on June 3,
1965. A 25-foot umbilical line
and tether linked White to the
spacecraft. In his left hand
is an experimental personal
propulsion unit. His chest
pack contained an eight-minute
emergency oxygen supply, as
a backstop.
|
| | |
An Agena target vehicle was
docked with by Gemini VIll on
March 16, 1966. A short-circuited
thruster set the two craft
spinning dangerously, forcing
Astronauts Armstrong and
Scott to end the mission.
|
We had planned a buildup of our flights, starting with a simple Earth-orbit flight
of the command and service modules (Apollo 7), to be followed by similar trials with
the lunar module (LM) added, for tests of rendezvous and docking and various burns
of the LM engines (Apollo 9). These tests would have then been followed by flights
to Lunar orbit with the LM scouting the landing but not going all the way in (Apollo
10), and then the landing (Apollo 11).
After Apollo 7, however, the LM was not yet ready and the opportunity occurred
to fly to the Moon with command and service module (CSM) only. This flight (Apollo 8)
was to give us many benefits early in the progam. Technically, it gave us information
on our communication and tracking equipment for later missions, a close view of
our landing sites, and experience in cislunar space with a simplified mission. Politically,
it may have assured us of being first to the Moon, since the stepped-up schedule
precluded the Russians from flying a man around the Moon with their Zond before we
reached the Moon following our previously scheduled missions.
The flights came off almost routinely following Apollo 8 on through the first lunar
landing and the flight to the Surveyor crater. But Apollo 13 was to see our first major
inflight emergency when an explosion in the service module cut off the oxygen supply
to the command module. Fortunately, the LM was docked to the CSM, and its oxygen
and electric power, as well as its propulsion rocket, were available. During the 4-day
ordeal of Apollo 13, the world watched breathlessly while the LM pushed the stricken
command module around the Moon and back to Earth. Precarious though it was,
Apollo 13 showed the merit of having separate spacecraft modules, and of training of
flight and gound crews to adapt to emergency. The ability of the flight directors on the
ground to read out the status of flight equipment, and the training of astronauts to meet
emergencies, paid off on this mission.
Apollo surely is a prototype for explorations of the future when we again send
men into space to build a base on the Moon or to explore even farther away from Earth.
|
