Earthrise

by Edgar Mitchell

  In 1967, only one year after I’d started astronaut training at NASA, tragedy struck. Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were rehearsing a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 27, 1967, in preparation for their upcoming launch date of February 21, 1967.

  Suddenly, and without warning, a fire erupted and swept through the Command Module capsule where the astronauts were buckled in their seats. Unable to escape, the three men tragically lost their lives. I was deeply saddened by the loss of my friends and three of Earth’s finest space explorers. But I truly believe that Gus, Ed, and Roger would have absolutely wanted us to move forward with the space program.

  And in time we did.

  Over the next year and a half we worked diligently on correcting potential equipment and spacecraft problems. Apollo missions 7 and 9 were designed to test the Command Module and the Lunar Module spacecraft while orbiting Earth. Apollo missions 8 and 10 orbited the Moon to test equipment and take important lunar photography for the upcoming Apollo missions that would land spacecraft on the Moon.

  Contact

  On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the Moon. Millions of people on Earth tuned in to their radios or turned on their televisions to follow this rare and historic event.

  The Apollo 11 crew included Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. The astronauts had a smooth launch from Earth on July 16, 1969, and a few days later, Neil and Buzz were traveling in their Lunar Module named the Eagle and carefully guiding the craft down to their lunar landing site called the Sea of Tranquility.

  I remember that summer day in July so well. Charlie Duke was CAPCOM and I was helping out in Mission Control with many of my colleagues. Up to this point the flight had been nearly flawless. But as Neil and Buzz flew the Eagle toward their landing site, they started to have problems.

  Neil could see that the Lunar Module was heading toward a dangerous-looking crater, so he took the controls manually to fly the craft away from the crater. This meant that more fuel would be burned, which wasn’t good because their fuel was limited and could run out. In addition, alarms starting going off in the craft, which only increased tensions. It seemed like everyone in Mission Control was holding their breath during these last critical seconds.

  Fortunately, the alarm problem was determined to be a computer software issue and quickly corrected. And with less than 25 seconds’ worth of fuel left, Neil and Buzz landed their craft.

  “The Eagle has landed!” Neil exclaimed. Everyone in Mission Control breathed a huge sigh of relief. In his iconic southern drawl, Charlie Duke said, “Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot!”

  Neil started a video camera attached to the outside of the Lunar Module to film his historic steps. He then slowly stepped down the ladder and onto the Moon. His words will forever be part of history, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

  I felt so proud of everyone at NASA and the Apollo program that day. I was especially proud of Neil, Buzz, and Mike. When Apollo 11 splashed down on Earth on July 24, cheers and applause erupted in Mission Control and everyone waved American flags. It was pure and absolute joy. History had been made and we had upheld President Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before 1971.

  About four months later, another Moon mission was good to go. Apollo 12 launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 14, 1969, with a crew that included Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon, and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean. Pete and Alan flew their Lunar Module, the Intrepid, down to the Moon and made a precise landing at the Ocean of Storms. The crew successfully returned to Earth on November 24, 1969.

  Apollo 13

  “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” —Astronaut Jack Swigert

  On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 astronauts, James “Jim” Lovell, Jack Swigert, and my good buddy Fred Haise, set out for the Moon. Their lunar landing site was the Fra Mauro Highlands (where the Apollo 14 Lunar Module eventually landed). But about two and a half days after launch when the Apollo 13 crew was nearly 200,000 miles away from Earth, the oxygen tank in their Service Module exploded. This unexpected problem wound up crippling the entire spacecraft by wiping out their vital oxygen and electricity supplies.

  Now faced with a terrifying situation, the astronauts needed to figure out a way to breathe, survive, and get back home.

  It seemed like everyone on Earth was watching as the dangerous Apollo 13 events unfolded, and people all over the world were anxiously glued to their televisions and radios hoping for the astronauts’ safe return.

  One of the first things Jim, Jack, and Fred did was to quickly move from the Command Module into the attached Lunar Module. Once they were in this smaller spacecraft, which had some oxygen and electricity, they were then able to shut off and conserve the Command Module’s power, oxygen, and fuel that would be crucial to get them back to Earth. In addition, the Lunar Module’s engine would also be used to thrust the astronauts around the Moon so they could then get into an orbital path to return home. For all intents and purposes, the Lunar Module became their lifeboat.

  Everyone at Mission Control was completely focused on getting the three astronauts back to Earth. And because I knew the Lunar Module inside and out, I was called in to help. I immediately hurried over to a nearby training building that housed the Lunar Module simulator and climbed into the simulator to figure out every maneuver and turn the Apollo 13 astronauts would need to do in their Lunar Module. I had to be one step ahead of them at all times, guiding them as best I could. And if I discovered any problem whatsoever, I would immediately communicate with Mission Control Flight Director Gene Kranz, who would then talk with the astronauts. It was a tense and critical time.

  At the same time, astronaut Ken Mattingly was also called in to help. Ken was one of the original three astronauts selected for Apollo 13, and he had trained extensively for this mission. But unfortunately, or fortunately as we later realized, he was grounded due to his exposure to German measles and Jack Swigert had taken his place as Command Module Pilot. Ken climbed into the Command Module simulator that was right next to the Lunar Module simulator and worked through countless procedures, running reentry after reentry under different configurations to help the three astronauts conserve their remaining power and limited oxygen. He focused on how to get them back through the atmosphere of Earth with a marginal oxygen supply. He asked important questions: What could they shut down? What could they turn off? What would they need to do in order to survive?

  Jim, Jack, and Fred wound up staying in the Lunar Module, which became very cold, until they got close to Earth. They then climbed back into the Command Module and took their seats. Their next step was to jettison the Lunar Module, which burned up in the atmosphere, before they soared down in the Command Module and plunged into the ocean on April 17, 1970.

  It was an extremely difficult time waiting and watching and hoping for the astronauts’ return. People all over the world were praying for the three men, and I believe it helped. When I saw the Command Module’s bright orange and white striped parachutes open before the capsule plunged into the sea, I felt so relieved. It was finally clear the astronauts had made it home.

  Although Apollo 13 never landed on the Moon, the mission was deemed a “successful failure” because the astronauts had returned home safely.

  Next on the lineup was my Apollo 14 mission. We were scheduled to head to the Moon just about nine months after Apollo 13 had launched.

  Yes, we had a solid crew with Alan Shepard as Commander, Stu Roosa as Command Module Pilot, and I was Lunar Module Pilot. We’d all trained and worked together for years, and we were all experienced and accomplished military men. Alan had earned the rank of rear admiral in the navy, Stu was a
colonel in the air force, and I was a captain in the navy. But it was impossible not to think about what might go wrong. I knew that two missions had already made it to the Moon and four men had already walked on the Moon. But would we be able to follow in their footsteps? Or would our spacecraft malfunction like Apollo 13?

  A Super Long Shot

  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

  —Mark Twain

  It was finally time for the Apollo 14 mission to head to the Moon. Our entire trip would last nine days, from January 31 to February 9, 1971. It would take about four days to get to the Moon, two days to work on the lunar surface, and three days to get back home.

  All the Apollo Moon missions had backup crews, and ours was made up of astronauts Gene Cernan (Commander), Ron Evans (Command Module Pilot), and Joe Engle (Lunar Module Pilot).

  Our Spacecraft

  Flying to the Moon was a risky venture, especially since it is a quarter of a million miles away from Earth. To get there, Alan, Stu, and I would ride the massive Saturn V, which was the largest, heaviest, most powerful rocket ever launched on Earth. Standing nearly 363 feet tall (about 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty), the rocket weighed about 3,000 tons before liftoff.

  Considered one of the most amazing engineering feats of the 20th century, the Saturn V had five engines and used millions of pounds of liquid fuel to thrust our spacecraft into orbit and send it to the Moon. This rocket was launched 13 times from 1967 to 1973 and carried all the Apollo astronauts into space. The final Saturn V launch put Skylab, America’s first space station, into orbit in 1973.

  Our primary spacecraft, the Kitty Hawk Command Module, was the only part of our entire spacecraft that returned to Earth. This cone-shaped craft was about 13 feet wide and 11 and a half feet tall, and it had five windows and two hatches. Alan, Stu, and I sat in three individual crew stations that were designed as curved couch-like seats, and this is where we piloted the craft, communicated with Mission Control, worked, and ate our meals. We slept in hammocks that were located about one foot beneath our couches. All of our supplies, food, clothing, and the basic equipment we’d need was carefully packed into the walls of the Kitty Hawk.

  Another crucial part of our spacecraft was called the Service Module, which was about 13 feet wide and 24 and a half feet long. This cylindrical craft was our basic storehouse for our service and life supporting power systems, and it carried vital supplies such as our oxygen, fuel cells for generating electricity, and necessary fuel tanks. The Service Module was directly connected to the Command Module and referred to as the Command/Service Module, or CSM. Just before splashdown, the Service Module would be jettisoned as the Command Module zoomed to Earth protected by a lifesaving heat shield that could withstand the extremely hot temperatures of reentry.

  The Antares Lunar Module was designed with a descent and an ascent stage so that Alan and I could fly down to the Moon and then back up to the Command Module. This meant that the spacecraft needed to have two distinct portions. The upper part of the Antares was where Alan and I would pilot the craft, eat, and sleep while we worked on the Moon. This upper part also housed all of our important life support systems, including guidance and navigation, communications, environmental air control, electrical power, and propulsion.

  The lower part of the Antares had four legs with pads for landing, storage bays for equipment, and a ladder so we could climb down to the lunar surface. It held our scientific equipment, a propulsion system, electrical power, water, and oxygen. This lower part would also act as our launch platform so we could lift off and fly back up to the Command Module.

  The Bug Barricade and Send-off

  Nobody wanted to go way up in space and come down with the flu. So, for three weeks before launch, Alan, Stu, and I were quarantined in biologically sealed crew quarters at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We wanted to avoid catching any germs or bugs from the outside world.

  The quarantine area looked like a modest apartment complete with a kitchen, bedrooms, and a living room. We were isolated from most other people and even our families. If we did interact with anyone working on the mission, we’d always have to wear protective biological masks.

  But we weren’t just sitting around for three weeks watching TV and waiting to fly. Our days were very busy as we rehearsed all of our flight procedures. The three of us would head over to a nearby building and practice launch and inflight maneuvers in the Command Module simulator. For a great deal of the time, Alan and I practiced different maneuvers in the Lunar Module simulator. These simulators gave us an exciting view of things to come because we could see actual scenes of space and the lunar surface we were about to visit.

  When liftoff was just around the corner, it was time to say good-bye to our families. Louise, Karlyn, and Elizabeth flew in from Houston to see me off. But it was a strange and cold farewell without any hugs or kisses. I was still in quarantine, so the four of us had to say good-bye behind a large glass window. Fortunately, there was a sound system so we could communicate.

  Family members of the other astronauts were also behind the glass window along with a few dignitaries and celebrities such as Henry Kissinger, who was President Nixon’s national security advisor at the time, and actor Kirk Douglas. Elizabeth was overjoyed to see the actor and said, “Oh, Mr. Douglas, I thought you were great in Spartacus!” I couldn’t help but smile.

  T-Minus and Counting!

  Launch day arrived, and Alan, Stu, and I were feeling the nervous excitement an athlete might feel before a big football game or a musician might feel before a big performance. We were ready to go and now it was time to play.

  That morning we had one last checkup by the medical team before having the traditional astronaut send-off breakfast of steak, eggs, and toast with Deke Slayton, our chief astronaut for the mission, and our backup crew.

  Later in the day it was time to suit up. We went to a sanitized area that looked like a laboratory where technicians placed medical devices on our chests that would continually monitor our breathing and heart rate throughout the mission. Next, we put on and zipped up our bulky spacesuits before putting on our helmets and boots. Each one of us also got a handheld oxygen canister so we could breathe with our helmets on.

  Now suited up, Alan, Stu, and I rode over to Pad A at Launch Complex 39, in the white NASA minivan. Once we got out of the van I looked over at the enormous rocket towering right in front of us. It was gigantic. I could hear the rocket hissing and rumbling, and it reminded me of an enormous upright steam train waiting at the station, ready to go.

  The three of us took the long ride up on the launch pad elevator to our spacecraft sitting at the top of the Saturn V. After stepping out onto a grated catwalk, I looked down at the ground below and could see the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and the pretty white beaches of the Florida coastline. I couldn’t believe how high we were. We then headed into an area called the White Room where we reviewed final preparations, put on our escape harnesses, and climbed into the Command Module.

  It was great to see astronaut Tom Stafford waiting for us in the White Room. Tom was chief of the Manned Spacecraft Center astronaut office and was there to help with last-minute details. We also met up with our launch pad leader, Guenter Wendt, and his crew, who helped us get into our spacecraft. Guenter liked to wear a bowtie and carry a clipboard, and he was there for all the manned spaceflights. He was also the last person we saw before heading into space.

  Climbing into the Kitty Hawk

  Guenter had an easygoing nature and made everyone’s job easier. As a joke, he handed Alan a cane because Alan was the oldest astronaut to fly to the Moon. This lightheartedness helped relieve some of the natural tension we were all feeling. We took our seats in the Command Module and Guenter’s technicians helped buckle us in. We were literally
shoulder-to-shoulder now and lying on our backs because the rocket was pointing upward. I sat on the right side of the Command Module, Stu sat in the center seat, and Alan sat on the left side.

  We all had specific tasks during the mission. Alan and Stu were responsible for piloting the spacecraft. As systems engineer, my duties included monitoring our power supply and air pressure, and overseeing all the instruments on the right side of the cockpit that measured the spacecraft’s functions.

  “Godspeed to you all!” Guenter said, smiling broadly. Then, without another word, he shut our hatch with a loud thud and locked it. At last it was just the three of us. We didn’t just take off; we had about two hours before launch. Alan, Stu, and I anxiously awaited countdown.

  Unfortunately, countdown was delayed. An afternoon thunderstorm was brewing, so Mission Control wanted us to hold off and let the storm pass. Of course it was hard to wait because we were so pumped up to fly. But we knew NASA was being cautious. Lightning could be big trouble. I immediately remembered the problem the Apollo 12 team had during launch. Lightning had hit their rocket during liftoff and shut down some of their most important systems. Fortunately, as their rocket surged into space, the astronauts were able to correct the problem and their mission turned out to be a big success.

  But sitting in our cramped, dark, and cold Command Module with a weather delay was rough. I chatted with Alan and Stu and tried to stay positive, not knowing how long the storm would last. I focused on rehearsing our launch sequence. But then I started to think about Louise and the girls sitting in the bleachers anxiously waiting for liftoff. I wondered how they were doing and if they were getting soaked by any rain. I thought about my mom and dad, Sandra and Jay, my grandparents, little Oscar, and the thousands of people watching our launch.