After I got back to the base, I had to describe what happened during the attack. First I had to write a full report about the attack, and then I was interrogated by management, who asked me about all the details. I was so exhausted after all of this that I crawled into one of our airplanes that was heading home and immediately fell asleep.
But the good news was that I was finally flying home.
From Prop Planes to Jets
After I got back to Whidbey Island and was looking forward to a bit of downtime with Louise and Karlyn, we were immediately transferred to San Diego.
I was now assigned to carrier duty to fly faster A-3 Sky-warrior jets that took off and landed from enormous aircraft carriers. The ships were huge floating airbases where there wasn’t much room for error; a pilot had to have a good sense of judgment and skill to get the plane on and off the water-based runway fast and accurately. But flying jets was thrilling. I was always drawn to the cutting edge of flight technology, and jets were a new kind of speedier aircraft that was very exciting to fly.
While living in San Diego, I flew for three years in the Pacific during the Korean conflict and the Cold War, and I had two deployments to the Pacific waters near Japan. The first deployment was on the USS Bonhomme Richard aircraft carrier, and the second was on the USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier.
Over time the navy realized I was a highly skilled pilot, so I was assigned to test pilot duty, which was something entirely new. This new assignment meant moving my family yet again to a place in California called China Lake.
China Lake was a very isolated and barren town near the Mojave Desert. Here, my duties were to figure out how to fly planes to drop bombs below enemy radar and then speed away.
And then in the fall of 1957, when I was 27 years old, something changed my life for good. I was returning to the States from being overseas and I heard about something extraordinary that happened in the skies above Earth.
And it was shocking news.
NASA Here We Come
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
—William Shakespeare
On October 4, 1957, I was aboard the USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier and traveling home from my latest assignment in the Pacific. I was en route to our newest home in China Lake, and I’m sure Louise and Karlyn were eagerly awaiting my return. But like so many people around the world on this day, I had the radio turned on and my attention turned toward the heavens. The announcer sounded intense as he reported that the Russians had just launched Sputnik 1, the very first man-made satellite, into Earth’s orbit.
The news about Sputnik spread rapidly and shocked a lot of people, including me, because the Russians had kept information about the spacecraft top secret until the day of the launch. I wanted to know all about this round, mysterious craft. In Russian, the word Sputnik means “fellow traveler of the Earth.” The satellite was a round metallic object about twice the size of a basketball. It weighed 184 pounds, traveled about 18,000 miles per hour, and was located about 139 miles above Earth at its closest point.
The launch of Sputnik was a huge world event and immediately covered by the media. The New York Times headline read: SOVIET FIRES EARTH SATELLITE INTO SPACE; IT IS CIRCULING THE GLOBE AT 18,000 MPH.; SPHERE TRACKED IN 4 CROSSINGS OVER US.
The Russians then launched a second Sputnik one month later on November 3, 1957. This satellite was bigger than Sputnik 1 and had a dog aboard named Pupnik Laika. The dog was an even-tempered little terrier and the first living creature to travel in “outer” space. I couldn’t help but think about my childhood terrier, Oscar. Unfortunately, Laika died within hours of Sputnik 2’s launch.
I suddenly realized that outer space was a new frontier for human exploration, and I just knew that human beings would follow right behind robotic satellites and animals in space. There’s no other way to say it—Sputnik changed my life. I wanted to be a part of this exciting new field, and I was absolutely sure that I wanted to be a space explorer. But in order to do this I also realized I needed to go back to college and get more education.
My mind was bursting with ideas, and I couldn’t wait to tell Louise all about them. I’d also been thinking a lot about being in the military. When I was a boy, I thought that war and fighting were natural things humans did for the greater good. But after facing near-death situations and seeing so much death and destruction, I became turned off to war. I wanted to use my skills as a pilot in nonviolent ways. I realized that becoming an astronaut would launch me in a whole new direction on a whole new peaceful path.
I just had to figure out how to get there.
From China Lake to Carmel
While we were still living in China Lake, Louise gave birth to our second daughter and we named her Elizabeth. We were all so happy to welcome Elizabeth, and I remember Karlyn was delighted to have a baby sister. Our young family was growing and our lives were changing.
With my mind set on going back to college, I started to investigate graduate-level programs offered by the navy. One option available to me was at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where I could study the emerging field of aeronautics. In 1959, I decided that a move to Monterey, which is by the ocean, would be one my family would like. Elizabeth was nearly one, Karlyn was six, and Louise was eager to get out of isolated China Lake.
So we headed west from the California desert to the California coastline and found a new home in Carmel Valley. Carmel was a beautiful change of scenery with its white sandy beaches, rolling hills, cypress trees, and vineyards.
After I was accepted into the Naval Postgraduate School, I began to study more technical subjects in aeronautics. I learned a lot about aircraft, aircraft engines, and flight profiles, and it was a great change to get out of the seat of a war-plane and into the seat of a classroom. Most important, I was sticking to my plan to become an astronaut.
Recruiting All Astronauts
When Sputnik was launched in 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president of the United States. Some of our leaders didn’t like the fact the Russians had been first in space; they were worried that a satellite like Sputnik might have the potential to carry something like a nuclear weapon. People quickly realized that the space around our planet could become a kind of invisible war zone where high-altitude battles might be waged.
Although the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) had fought together as allies to end World War II, there was still a great deal of discord between the two countries. Distrust was rampant because both countries possessed nuclear weapons, which had enormous destructive potential worldwide.
It didn’t take long before a new war, called the Cold War, began. This war was deemed “cold” because there was no direct military action, but there was an enormous amount of hostility and suspicion. During this era, which occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, children in America were taught to “duck and cover” under school desks in the event of a nuclear bomb. Some families built underground bomb shelters in their backyards. World War II and the Korean War were over, but there was still a great deal of conflict and fear.
On top of this, the Russians and Americas started to take sides in what was called the “space race,” a celestial competition to see which country would achieve more progress in space. The race was on to see who would have the best spacecraft; who would fly the fastest, highest, and farthest; and who would be top dog in this new frontier.
I paid close attention to nearly everything that was happening in the growing field of astronautics. President Eisenhower wanted America to forge ahead in space exploration and he helped form NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was founded on October 1, 1958, to conduct civilian research for space flight.
President Eisenhower also asked universities such as MIT, Caltech, and Princeton to set up graduate programs in space science, aeronautics, and astronautics because, frankly, nobody knew what was “out there” in deep space.
Space Age Studies
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.” —Albert Einstein
After earning my bachelor of science in aeronautics from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1961, I was one of the first students to be accepted into the new astronautics program at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was still an officer in the navy and would now focus my studies on advances in aeronautics and astronautics, and thought-provoking courses in physics and quantum mechanics.
It wasn’t easy moving from Carmel Valley to Cambridge, but a new home near Boston had many advantages. Sometimes my family went to Boston to shop or see a museum, we took summer vacations in Cape Cod, and the girls liked playing outside in the snow and ice skating. Louise was wonderful about all our moves to different towns every few years, but there’s no question it was tough on her. When we got married we hadn’t planned our lives around going off to war and having such a nomadic lifestyle. Heading to MIT was a bit of a reprieve, because we were going to stay put in Cambridge for the three years it took to get my degree.
Because the astronautics program at MIT was in its infancy, new curriculum about space needed to be developed. I took interesting courses in subjects such as the evolution of the universe and star systems, space guidance and navigation, spacecraft control systems, and rocket propulsion. I also started to learn about computer programming, which was in its infancy in the early 1960s. It was obvious that computers would be incredibly important in space.
Student discussions, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes argumentative, revolved on cosmic questions about the what-ifs and whys of the universe. I started to wonder about the cosmos more than ever and realized there were many unanswered questions. It was cerebral, fun, and fascinating stuff to consider. But I also knew there was a lot of fear and confusion. I remember hearing about Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds radio broadcast that aired in 1938 when I was eight years old. The radio show pretended to be an actual newscast about an extraterrestrial invasion, and some folks thought it was real and became frightened. I also thought about the alleged UFO crash that happened in Roswell when I was 17—and the great stir it caused.
Ten Years to the Moon
I was at MIT in 1961 when John F. Kennedy became president of the United States after Eisenhower left office. In that year, President Kennedy announced to Congress the ambitious, 10-year goal of having an American astronaut land on the Moon and safely return to Earth before the end of the decade.
Ten years to the Moon? I took it as a personal challenge. I wanted to go to the Moon.
The following is an excerpt from John F. Kennedy’s famous speech, “The Decision to Go to the Moon,” which was delivered before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961.
First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar spacecraft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain, which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned exploration—explorations, which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook … the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight.
—John F. Kennedy, May 25, 1961
A Big Disappointment
Although I enjoyed studying at MIT, I was very glad to graduate. My doctoral thesis was titled “Guidance of Low-Thrust Interplanetary Vehicles,” and I earned my doctor of science (Sc.D) in 1964. Other future astronauts, such as Buzz Aldrin, Dave Scott, and Charlie Duke, were also studying and getting their degrees from MIT during the years when I was there.
After graduation I was raring to go, but not exactly sure what to do. I eventually applied for a position in the guidance control division of NASA located in Houston, Texas, and was accepted. Houston was definitely the place to be if you wanted to be an astronaut.
Louise, the kids, and I knew the drill. We packed up the car and started driving west toward Texas. Finally my dream to become an astronaut was really coming true. At least for a few hours.
On our drive, we stopped at Louise’s mother’s home in Pennsylvania. That’s when I got a phone call from Navy Captain Jack Van Ness, who delivered some very disappointing news. Jack informed me the navy wanted me to work on a new project in Los Angeles called the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, which would be part of the military’s space surveillance program.
So, although I had my heart set on Houston, we headed to Los Angeles.
For nearly a year and a half I worked on the Manned Orbiting Laboratory and oversaw many people who helped design this state-of-the-art spacecraft. But once it became clear to me that the orbiting lab project was starting to stall, I realized this job wasn’t going to help me get to the Moon. To get to the Moon, I needed a lot more time flying newer and faster jets. I remembered good advice I’d heard throughout my life: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” So I tried again.
A Great Move
I knew Edwards Air Force Base wasn’t that far from L.A. and had an Aerospace Research Pilot School headed by the legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager. Jack Van Ness understood my aspirations to walk on the Moon, so I asked him if he could help get me assigned to the school. Thankfully, he did just that.
In 1965, my next big adventure was learning to fly exotic supersonic jets at Edwards Air Force Base, which was located in the middle of the Mojave Desert. During the week I would say good-bye to Louise and the girls, who were happy to stay in Los Angeles, and I’d fly up to Edwards. I’d then return to be with my family on the weekends.
Edwards Air Force Base was an exciting place to be with an amazing agenda of flight programs. It was certainly a dynamic time in my life. Suddenly I was flying planes faster and higher than I ever had in my life, and I even flew high-performance, supersonic aircraft such as the Lockheed NF-104 that could reach altitudes of more than 100,000 feet.
At Edwards, I was both a student and an instructor in the school’s new space-training program. I taught a wide range of subjects such as advanced mathematics, navigation theory, aviation, astronomy, and orbital mechanics to budding astronauts.
Then one spring evening in 1966, I was back in Los Angeles having dinner with my family. The phone rang and it was astronaut Deke Slayton on the line. Deke was NASA’s coordinator of astronaut activities and worked in Houston at the Manned Spacecraft Center, which was named the Johnson Space Center in 1973. It seemed like I’d been waiting years for a call from him.
Deke said he’d like me to move to Houston and begin astronaut training. I immediately said yes! I was 36 years old at the time, and all my hard work and willingness to be flexible had paid off.
After I hung up the phone, I swooped up Louise and the girls in a big family hug.
Getting There
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”
—Lao-tzu
After so many years of hard work I had finally landed at NASA, and it felt great to be part of the Apollo team. In 1966 I was chosen along with 18 other men to participate in NASA’s Group 5 astronaut training. We were all test pilots and we all had college degrees.
Every day at the Manned Spacecraft Center there was a tremendous feeling that all our work was going to make history. And it certainly did. I also felt that going to the Moon was a big step in the advancement of our species, and I was honored to be a part of it.
After arriving in Houston I immediately started ground school. All of the Group 5 astronauts took refresher courses in math and physics and learned about subjects such as space science, astronomy, geology, orbital mechanics, computer science, space flight, and the medical aspects of space flight. We also learned about complex spacecraft equi
pment such as propulsion control systems and fuel cells, and we took courses in how to observe and photograph phenomena in space.
The Apollo Program
Named after the Greek god of light, the Sun, truth, prophecy, and music, the Apollo program’s overarching goal was to safely land humans on the Moon and safely return them to Earth.
But exploration of the Moon was not new. In the 17th century, physicist Galileo Galilei was one of the first astronomers to use a telescope to look at the Milky Way galaxy and observe the mountains and craters of the Moon. In 1959, the Soviet Union launched a robotic probe called Luna 2, which was the first man-made spacecraft to reach and impact the lunar surface.
Landing a man on the Moon was no easy task. It was the result of decades of space exploration and preparation, and it was a careful and patient process with many valuable lessons learned along the way—even the painful ones.
After Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957, the United States launched Explorer 1 in 1958, which was our first man-made satellite. Great advances in space were made in America as well as in Russia during this time.
In the United States, NASA’s Project Mercury (the first US human spaceflight program, which ran from 1961 to 1963) proved that one man could orbit the Earth and return safely. Project Gemini (the second US human spaceflight program, which ran from 1965 to 1966) was designed to perfect important rendezvous and docking procedures that would be required for going to the Moon. Project Mercury and Project Gemini helped pave the way for a Moon landing and preceded the Apollo program, which landed men on the Moon from 1969 to 1972.
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