for military use: Launius and McCurdy, Spaceflight.
“gates of heaven”: Missiles and Rockets, July 1957.
“what I should do”: Davis-Floyd et al., Space Stories.
“kept him alive”: Kraft, Flight, 68.
trancelike state: Newsweek, April 20, 1959, 64; Hall, Space Pioneers, 318–19.
“grapefruit-sized satellite”: Robert B. Voas interview, May 19, 2002, NASA Oral History Project.
“chance for immortality”: Carpenter et al., We Seven, 60.
“sadists to a man”: Cooper and Henderson, Leap of Faith, 13.
“drive them crazy”: Caidin, Man into Space, 132.
down the road: Sources for this discussion of astronaut testing include Swenson et al., This New Ocean, 129–32, 159–64; Santy, Choosing the Right Stuff; Conrad and Klausner, Rocketman; Glenn, John Glenn; Lamb, “Aeronautical Evaluation for Space Pilots”; Link, Space Medicine in Project Mercury; and the best and most insightful writing on the subject, Carpenter et al., We Seven, 165–95.
his dad’s new job: Grissom and Still, Starfall, 64.
“cities into nothingness”: Quoted in Caidin, Buck Rogers.
test-pilot mortality rate: Wolfe: The Right Stuff, 14.
at least 50 percent: Newsweek, April 20, 1959, 65.
“All-American football team”: New York Times, April 10, 1959.
a man into space: Newsweek, April 20, 1959.
Three: “The Howling Infinite”
“The Howling Infinite”: This phrase can be found in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, 46 23: “Better is it to perish in that howling infinite” (though Melville was not referring to space).
executive officer: Carol Faget, phone interview with the author, April 11, 2017.
“the success of NACA’s mission”: “Reflections of Joseph ‘Guy’ Thibodaux Jr.”
serious heat damage: Maxime Faget interview, June 18–19, 1997, JSC Oral History Project; Davis-Floyd et al., Space Stories; “Reflections of Joseph ‘Guy’ Thibodaux Jr.”
“You put it on”: Quoted in Schanche, “The Astronauts Get Their Prodigious Chariot,” 112.
lowest bidder: Swenson et al., This New Ocean, 136, 150.
astronaut might survive: Landis, “Human Exposure to Vacuum”; Smith, “Can You Survive in Space Without a Spacesuit?”
dead within minutes: Carpenter et al., We Seven, 153.
“99 percent”: Cortright, Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, 55.
make demands: Hersch, Inventing the American Astronaut, 1.
“ain’t got no wings”: Shepard, “The First Step to the Moon.”
meager reserve-fuel capacity: Cooper, “Annals of Space: We Don’t Have to Prove Ourselves.”
“herd shot ’round the world”: James K. Hinson interview, May 2, 2000, JSC Oral History Project.
drawings and blueprints: Burgess, Sigma 7, 35.
toss his cookies: Thompson, Light This Candle, 186–87; Baker, History of Manned Space Flight, 47.
“take his turn”: Carpenter et al., We Seven, 153.
the best player: Glenn, John Glenn, 204.
“out of the way”: Ibid., 274–75.
attempts reached orbit: Bilstein, Orders of Magnitude, 55.
“fourth would make it”: Rochester Democrat Chronicle, December 20, 1959.
not-too-distant future: Ibid.
American prestige: Williams, “Trade Winds,” in “Go!” Other sources mention the chimpanzee total as six. See Lewis, Appointment on the Moon, 113.
“Spam in a can”: Voas, “Project Mercury,” 1.
Mercury Seven were receiving: Apparently Yeager’s feelings about NASA occasionally took the form of action. According to astronaut Bill Anders, Yeager was “upset” that Anders had applied to be an astronaut “and actually put some energy into their trying to get me kicked out of the program” (William Anders interview, October 8, 1997, JSC Oral History Project). When Frank Borman told Yeager, then his boss, that he’d been selected to be an astronaut, Yeager said, “Well, Borman, you can kiss your Air Force career goodbye,” and dismissed him without another word (Kluger, Apollo 8, 25).
“After the chimp, the chump”: GWS Oral History Project, Robert Gilruth interview no. 4, NASA.
“some of this Spam bullshit”: Quoted in Mindell, Digital Apollo, 80.
to be exact: Mercury Project Summary, 181.
multiple openings: Missiles and Rockets, October 13, 1958.
“when you join NASA”: Ibid., May 28, 1962, and March 3, 1962.
having fun with the new guy: Frank E. Hughes interview, March 29, 2013, JSC Oral History Project.
“two hundred miles away”: Missiles and Rockets, March 1957.
around for long: Neufeld, Von Braun, 345.
“a rich uncle”: Ibid., 343.
“for spaceflight’s sake”: Ibid.
blows at a party: Kraft, Flight, 103–4.
“what flag he fights for”: Neufeld, Von Braun, 337.
“our damned Nazi”: Ibid., 368.
go in his place: Ibid., 338; Cooper and Henderson, Leap of Faith, 148, 160; Mitchell, The Way of the Explorer, 30–32; Warren North interview, September 30, 1998, JSC Oral History Project; and several other astronaut interviews and authored books. Wally Schirra in his book Schirra’s Space described him as “that great man von Braun, who was a dear friend of ours.”
opening in St. Louis: Cunningham, The All-American Boys, 272.
“giant fraternity party”: Landwirth and Hendricks, Gift of Life, 103.
Mercury Five and Two: Williams, “Who Flies First?,” in “Go!”
“keep his pants zipped”: Glenn, John Glenn, 230.
mind his own business: Ibid.; Thompson, Light This Candle, 226–27. A mutual friend of Shepard and Glenn told writer Neal Thompson decades later that Glenn had told him the guilty party was Shepard.
von Braun’s Saturn booster: Baker, History of Manned Space Flight, 58.
“moon and the planets”: New York Times, July 30, 1960.
Four: Man on a Missile
“With Mercury we are using”: Williams, “Dangers,” in “Go!”
“The man is crazy”: Time, March 2, 1962.
the art of sniveling: Ibid.; Amarillo Globe-News, October 25, 1998. See also Jack D. Woodul, “The Further Adventures of Youthly Puresome,” Hook (Fall 2006): “It was Naval Aviator’s heaven—sniveling a hop on a beautiful day.” Michael Collins also uses the word in Carrying the Fire: “I had sniveled whatever simulator time I could” (330).
“a little arrogance”: Glenn, John Glenn, 194.
slightly higher: Williams, “Who Flies First?,” in “Go!”
“He was really sharp”: Thomas Sanzone interview, July 26, 2011, JSC Oral History Project.
a marvel of tautology: Caidin, Man into Space, 37.
“lost in his life”: Life, February 2, 1962.
he pulled out of it: Amarillo Globe-News, October 25, 1998. This account is supported by other contemporary accounts, particularly Williams, “Who Flies First?,” in “Go!”
the viewing area: Neufeld, Von Braun, 355; Kraft, Flight, 118; Faget quote, Schirra and Billings, Schirra’s Space, 72–73.
“Talk to me, dammit”: Kranz, Failure Is Not an Option, 27, 29.
“going to be damn lucky”: Quoted in John Hodge interview, April 19, 1999, JSC Oral History Project.
had not improved morale: Williams, “But You Can’t Put a Man in the Can!,” in “Go!”
“Spokesman Says U.S. Asleep”: Shepard and Slayton, Moon Shot, 105–6.
Soviets’ goal was obvious: Daniloff, The Kremlin and the Cosmos, 138.
Gagarin echoed that: Albany Times Union, April 13, 1961; Buffalo Evening News, April 13, 1961.
nothing substantive: Seamans, Project Apollo, 119.
Soviet space program: Siddiqi, Challenge to Apollo, 11–12.
the Soviet people: Hardesty and Eisman, Epic Rivalry, xii.
“into the cosmos”: Boris Chertok, quoted in Reichardt, “The Luna 1
Hoax Hoax.”
“plenty of work for everybody”: Quoted in Glenn, John Glenn, 237.
shared by many Americans: Williams, “But You Can’t Put a Man in the Can!,” in “Go!”
with hydrogen peroxide: Reynolds, Kennedy Space Center, 71, 82.
a faulty computer: Sources for this account of Shepard’s flight are Burgess, Freedom 7; Lewis, Appointment on the Moon; Thompson, Light This Candle; Shepard and Slayton, Moon Shot; Slayton and Cassutt, Deke!; Swenson et al., This New Ocean; Grimwood, Project Mercury; Kraft, Flight; Williams, “Go!”; and Results of the First U.S. Manned Orbital Space Flight.
“in ze nose cone”: Alan Shepard interview, February 20, 1998, JSC Oral History Project.
nicknamed “Ol’ Reliable”: Kraft, Flight, 139.
southeast of Cape Canaveral: Williams, “Surfside 5,” in “Go!”
white shirt with a thin tie: Claiborne R. Hicks interview, November 4, 2000, JSC Oral History Project.
in medical distress: Robert B. Voas interview, May 19, 2002, JSC Oral History Project.
overall scientific achievement: McDougall, The Heavens and the Earth, 246.
“scientist or an engineer”: Bizony, The Man Who Ran the Moon, 21.
Johnson would remember later: Murray and Cox, Apollo, 69.
defending NASA’s budget: Lambright, Powering Apollo, 89–94.
“spend a little money”: Launius and McCurdy, Spaceflight, 72.
watched Johnson work his contacts: Murray and Cox, Apollo, 80–81.
“I’m ready”: Thompson, Light This Candle, 265.
“Let’s go”: Neufeld, Von Braun, 364; Ward, Dr. Space, 128.
“250,000 pounds into earth orbit”: Quoted in Watkins, Apollo Moon Missions, xx.
“launch windows”: Cortright, Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, 19.
“‘New York City overnight’”: Grissom, Gemini!, 177.
Five: In Orbit
“an administrator’s discount on it”: Shepard and Slayton, Moon Shot, 41; Lambright, Powering Apollo, 101.
where Shepard had: Sources for this account of Grissom’s flight are Burgess, Liberty Bell 7; Lewis, Appointment on the Moon; Shepard and Slayton, Moon Shot; Slayton and Cassutt, Deke!; Swenson et al., This New Ocean; Grimwood, Project Mercury; Kraft, Flight; Williams, “Go!”; Carpenter et al., We Seven; and Results of the Second U.S. Manned Suborbital Space Flight.
going to drown: Results of the Second U.S. Manned Suborbital Space Flight; Williams, “Go!,” 322–24. For the most thorough, even-handed examination of the hatch controversy, see Leopold, Calculated Risk, chapter 9.
“full of sea water”: New York Times, July 22, 1961.
“possibly I did”: Boomhower, Gus Grissom, 199.
banged into it: Slayton and Cassutt, Deke!, 101.
“good portion of the time”: Quoted in Swenson et al., This New Ocean, 370.
“Scared, okay?”: Quoted in Boomhower, Gus Grissom, 211.
“automatic devices”: New York Times, July 22, 1961.
“disappeared almost entirely”: Ibid., August 5, 1962.
rushing a message in: Lunney et al., From the Trench of Mission Control, 317.
almost five hours: Ibid., February 21, 1962.
Glenn might be the first: On a Discovery Channel miniseries called Rocket Science, produced and aired in Canada in 2002–2003, flight controller Gene Kranz said, “Every one of us believed we would lose one, possibly even more, astronauts during the Mercury program.”
would remember thinking: Williams, “The Flight of Friendship Seven,” in “Go!”
Six: Under Pressure
“We knew that human beings”: Robert B. Voas interview, May 19, 2002, JSC Oral History Project.
“act up”: Quoted in Slayton and Cassutt, Deke!, 110.
the Mercury program: Lamb, Inside the Space Race, 108–11.
“everyone in that room”: Shepard and Slayton, Moon Shot, 154.
but without success: Desert Sun, March 31, 1962; Loudon Wainwright, “Comes a Quiet Man to Ride Aurora 7,” Life, May 18, 1962.
think that was right: Schirra and Billings, Schirra’s Space, 77.
meager jet time: Carpenter and Stoever, For Spacious Skies, 175.
“vague and detached”: Paul Haney, quoted in Hall, Space Pioneers, 388; Williams, “Go!”
assistant flight director for Carpenter’s flight: This description of Kranz’s early progress at NASA is primarily drawn from his book Failure Is Not an Option.
“sunrise to worry about”: Quoted in Young et al., Journey to Tranquility, 148.
sounded delirious: Kranz, Failure Is Not an Option, 89.
testing a new airplane: Ibid., 91.
wildly oscillating capsule: Swenson et al., This New Ocean, 446–56; Slayton and Cassutt, Deke!, 114; Kranz, Failure Is Not an Option.
“broke up his tranquility”: Robert F. Thompson interview, August 29, 2000, JSC Oral History Project.
had also been concerned: Williams, “The Flight of Aurora Seven,” in “Go!”
responded autocratically: Carpenter and Stoever, For Spacious Skies, 301; Liebergot and Harland, Apollo EECOM, 110; Gerry Griffin interview, March 12, 1999, JSC Oral History Project.
“they didn’t either”: Kranz, Failure Is Not an Option, 91.
“must work for me”: Ibid., 31.
remote tracking station: Ibid., 127.
veiled reference to Carpenter: Schirra interview with Francis French for CollectSPACE.com, February 22, 2002.
told what to do: Williams, “The Flight of Sigma Seven,” in “Go!”
Schirra’s backup: Sources for this account of Cooper’s flight are Burgess, Faith 7; Lewis, Appointment on the Moon; Cooper and Henderson, Leap of Faith; Swenson et al., This New Ocean; Grimwood, Project Mercury; Kraft, Flight; Williams, “Go!”; and Mercury Project Summary.
switches on his control panel: Grelsamer, Into the Sky with Diamonds, 110.
“stop holding your breath”: Time, May 24, 1963.
“band of bright blue”: Quoted in Barbour et al., Footprints on the Moon, 66–67.
“made another revolution”: Robert Smylie interview, April 17, 1999, JSC Oral History Project.
an amphetamine: Williams, “The Flight of Faith Seven,” in “Go!”
floated by the military: Geneva (NY) Times, May 17, 1963.
“mission would have failed”: Swenson et al., This New Ocean, 494–501; Kraft, Flight, 183.
repeated trial and error: This statement is a recasting of a similar statement in the book written by the Mercury Seven themselves (though ghostwritten by professional writers). See Carpenter et al., We Seven, 210.
to the president: Stafford and Cassutt, We Have Capture, 109; Wilson, “Mercury Atlas 10.”
“Man is the deciding element”: Quoted in Young and Hansen, Forever Young, 160.
“six men back”: Robert Gilruth R. C. Macalester College lecture, January 29, 1964, in Robert Gilruth Papers, box 4, folder 6, Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
thought of them as his “boys”: Quoted in Launius, “Heroes in a Vacuum,” 10.
“things was launched”: Quoted in Chaikin, “Bob Gilruth.”
a kind of NACA university: Burrows, This New Ocean, 346.
Maybe he could again: Siddiqi, “A Secret Uncovered”; Day, “The Moon in the Crosshairs.”
Seven: The Gusmobile
“It was like the Blue Angels”: Agle, “Flying the Gusmobile.”
for good reason: Walter Schirra interview, December 1, 1998, JSC Oral History Project.
“never got solved”: Quoted in Murray and Cox, Apollo, 109.
considered this suggestion: Turnill, The Moonlandings, 89; Missiles and Rockets, June 25, 1962.
“I vowed to dedicate”: Quoted in Hansen, Enchanted Rendezvous, 15.
reserved and reticent: Bill Causey quote in “The Lunar Module,” an episode in the documentary miniseries Moon Machines.
“very much like a motorcycle”: Owen G. Morris interview, May 20, 1999,
JSC Oral History Project.
“that’s no good”: Life, March 14, 1969.
“far-out science fiction”: Time, June 22, 1962.
renewed consideration: Seamans, Aiming at Targets, 98. This discussion of LOR owes much to the definitive work on the subject, James Hansen’s Enchanted Rendezvous, and also to Baker, History of Manned Space Flight, 144–56; Brooks et al., Chariots for Apollo, 61–86; Life, March 14, 1969; and von Braun, “Concluding Remarks by Dr. Wernher von Braun.”
“eyeballing that thing”: Brooks et al., Chariots for Apollo, 76.
announcing his support for LOR: Seamans, Aiming at Targets, 43.
between Kennedy and Thomas: James E. Webb Oral History Interview 1, April 29, 1969, by T. H. Baker, LBJ Library.
needed at the MSC: Many of the details included in this account of the MSC deal are from Eric Berger’s excellently researched “A Worthy Endeavor: How Albert Thomas Won Houston NASA’s Flagship Center,” Houston Chronicle, September 14, 2013.
“someplace out west”: Dutch von Ehrenfried interview, March 19, 2009, JSC Oral History Project.
souped-up Mercury craft: Robert Gilruth Papers, box 4, folder 19, “Oral History Transcript”; Neufeld, Von Braun, 371.
“what instruments went where”: Quoted in Agle, “Flying the Gusmobile.”
everyone in the room: Cortright, Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, 50.
“within reason”: Stafford and Cassutt, We Have Capture, 40–41.
applied to them too: Scott et al., Two Sides of the Moon, 134.
“it got to be awesome again”: Jack Garman interview, March 27, 2001, JSC Oral History Project; Garman interview, April 14, 2014, Honeysuckle Creek, www.honeysucklecreek.net/interviews/jack_garman.html.
“right through me”: Cernan and Davis, The Last Man on the Moon, 58.
“He was never there”: Worden and French, Falling to Earth, 70.
but Shepard did: Thompson, Light This Candle, 306.
“You’re just an astronaut trainee”: Grissom and Still, Starfall, 123.
more complex operations now involved: Guy Thibodaux interview, October 20, 1999, JSC Oral History Project.
years of development had gone into it: Launius and Jenkins, Coming Home, 112.
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