First Man
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“dynamic runs” Flight Crew Training Report No. 40, “Period: July 22–27, 1963,” in NAA’s personal papers.
“That training went for” NAA: e-mail to author, “Questions about astronaut training,” Apr. 8, 2004.
helicopter flight to preparations Flight Crew Training Report No. 457, “Period: November 18–23, 1963,” in NAA’s personal papers.
“The helicopter was not a good simulation of the lunar module control at all” NAA to author, Cincinnati, OH, June 3, 2000 (afternoon), p. 26.
“heard the news bulletin” NAA to author, June 2, 2003 (morning), p. 18.
“it was just natural that I was at the place where the simulators were” Ibid., p. 6.
“Deke just said, ‘Here they are’” Stafford, WHC, p. 44.
“probably an easy pick for Deke” NAA to author, June 2, 2003 (morning), p. 6.
“equations of motion” NAA to author, June 2, 2003 (morning), p. 16.
“sense of being proper” Ibid.
“useful simulator” Ibid.
Lovell…memos Jim Lovell, Memorandum for Astronauts, “Parasail Primer,” July 26, 1963; Lovell, “Gemini Egress Development,” Feb. 7, 1964; Lovell, Memorandum for Astronauts, “Ballute Test Results,” Feb. 11, 1964; Lovell, “Gemini Survival Kits,” Apr. 27, 1964. Copies of all these memos and others by different astronauts were found in NAA’s personal papers.
“memos flying” NAA to author, June 2, 2003 (morning), p. 12.
“Some things weren’t covered” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 22.
week in the barrel Armstrong’s “week in the barrel” is laid out in Fred Asselin, Astronaut Affairs Coordinator, Office of Public Affairs, MSC, to Neil Armstrong, Astronaut Office, MSC, June 16, 1964, in NAA’s personal papers.
“Quite a different responsibility” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 21.
“Neil presented a certain façade, a certain persona” MC to author, Marco Island, FL, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 4.
“Neil would be…on the thinker side” Ibid., p. 6.
“potential of being challenged” BA to author, Albuquerque, NM, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 4.
“long time coming to a solution” RFG to author, Prescott, AZ, Apr. 12, 2003, p. 9.
“Neil was patient with processes” MC to author, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 4.
“He could be stubborn” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 5.
“Neil…bamboozled” WAA to author, San Diego, CA, Sept. 8, 2003, p. 8.
“meet anyone halfway” MC to author, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 8.
“Neil wasn’t an expansive guy” WAA to author, Sept. 8, 2003, p. 35.
“Neil is as friendly” JG to author, The John Glenn Institute for Public Service & Public Policy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, Sept. 23, 2003, p. 5.
“jungle training” Ibid., p. 4.
“Neil’s theory on exercise” JG, Glenn: A Memoir, pp. 391–92.
“That a boy, Dave!” David Scott to author, Atlanta, GA, Feb. 1, 2003, transcript, p. 22. I interviewed Scott the afternoon of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident.
“on his own schedule” MC to author, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 7.
“The guy was really cool under pressure” Scott to author, Feb. 1, 2003, p. 31.
“You just couldn’t see through him” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 6.
Chapter 18: In Line for Command
“I had no expectation of getting it” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 18.
“actual flight assignment” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 24.
“how Deke assigned the crews” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, pp. 18–19.
“Some flights required more, or special, skills and experience” Ibid., p. 18.
“So he [Deke] tried to think things through ahead of time” Ibid., p. 20.
“a very loose operation” Ibid., p. 13.
“So I took a very simple approach” Ibid., p. 21.
“‘Eight days or bust was their motto’” MC, Liftoff, p. 87.
“backing up Gordon Cooper” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 23.
“Deke stood up for [Gordo]” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 30.
“equal to thousands of hours in the labs” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 21.
“We’d get home…sometimes” Ibid., p. 24.
“Slayton would send astronauts out” EFK to Roy F. Neal, Houston, TX, Mar. 19, 1998, p. 15. This interview was conducted as part of the NASA JSC Oral History Project.
“We practiced the procedures” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 23.
“responsibilities of the tracking station at Hawaii” Ibid., p. 23.
“We all knew the spacecraft very well” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 24.
“It was mostly A-to-B flying” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 2.
“Morehead was a superb facility” Ibid., p. 17.
“My interests were just from a rank amateur” Ibid.
“a good visual representation” Ibid.
“we would turn the lights completely down in the cockpit” Ibid.
“We didn’t get much Southern Hemisphere practice” Dave Scott to Ken Glover, ca. 1992, sent by e-mail to author from Eric P. Jones, May 24, 2003. Under NASA sponsorship, Glover assisted Jones during the 1990s in the creation of the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, available online at www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/.
“my sense is that the Gemini teams were more closely knit than the Apollo ones” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 27.
“Ours was the first spacecraft to go into space with a fuel cell” Gordon Cooper with Bruce Henderson, Leap of Faith, p. 135.
“newfangled contraption” MC, Liftoff, p. 87.
“We actually talked to the spacecraft on VHF as it went overhead” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 24.
“nearly cost us our mission” GC, Leap of Faith, p. 136.
“we’d released a rendezvous pod” Ibid.
Tom Stafford TS, WHC, p. 69.
“Dave was an excellent choice” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 32.
“I had some concept of what was in Deke’s mind” Ibid.
Chapter 19: Gemini VIII
“super flight with great objectives” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 35.
“Gemini meant the twins, Castor and Pollux” Ibid.
internal technical debate For a detailed analysis of the debate over the selection of lunar-orbit rendezvous as the mission mode for the Moon landing, see chapter 8 of Spaceflight Revolution (1995), “Enchanted Rendezvous,” pp. 221–68.
“rendezvous and docking” NAA: e-mail to author, May 12, 2003.
troubled development For a summary of the Agena’s development problems as a rendezvous target vehicle, see chapter 13 of Barton C. Hacker and James M. Grimwood, On the Shoulders of Titans, “Agena on Trial,” pp. 297–321.
“epoxy in the catcher mechanism” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 37.
“cost us the launch” David Scott in Scott and Alexei Leonov, Two Sides of theMoon, p. x.
“I was speechless” VEAP, “Thinking Back,” p. 4.
“surprise when you really launched” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 36.
reflected a “keying up” On the X-15 aeromedical investigations, see Wendell H. Stillwell, X-15 Research Results (Washington, DC: NASA SP-60, 1965), pp. 89–90.
“The Titan II was a pretty smooth ride” Ibid., p. 37.
“Hey, how ’bout that view!?” Gemini VIII Voice Communications (Air-to-Ground, Ground-to-Air and On-Board Transcription), Gemini Project Files, p. 3. Copy in NARA, Southwest Repository, Ft. Worth, TX, Record Group 255, MAC Control No. C-115471.
“First, all you see is blue” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 37.
“worried about the engine keeping running” Ibid., p. 38.
“all those ships!” Gemini VIII Voice Communications (Air-to-Ground, Ground-to-Air and On-Board Transcription), Gemini Project Files, p. 18. Copy in NARA, Southwest Repository, Ft. Worth, TX, Record Group 255, MAC Control No. C-115471. Armstrong’s comment came at 1:29:08 elapsed time.
“A fundamental requiremen
t of rendezvous” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 40.
“Then a strange thing happens” MC, Liftoff, pp. 72–73.
“Rendezvous simulation in Gemini” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 31.
“We achieved fifty to sixty rendezvous simulations on the ground” NAA to Barton C. Hacker, Houston, TX, Apr. 6, 1967, p. 13. Tape recording in NARA, Southwest Repository, Ft. Worth, TX, Record Group 255, Code GemOH49.
“This was a teeny-tiny computer” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 38.
“allowed us to arrive at the Agena” Ibid., p. 41.
“quick loose burn” Scott quoted in On the Shoulders of Titans, p. 310.
“one hundred thirty degrees behind the Agena” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 41.
“It’s hard to do at night” Ibid., p. 42.
“At that point it lit up like a Christmas tree” Ibid.
“we did what was called ‘station keeping’” Ibid.
“It was very easy to fly close” Ibid.
“I was going to have him fly it, but not then” Ibid., p. 43.
“we were not in level flight like we were supposed to be” Ibid., p. 44.
“any trouble with the docking” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 26.
“problem or mistake, it would come from the Agena” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 34.
“probably an unnecessary comment” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 44.
“problem was not the Agena’s” Ibid., p. 46.
“hear the thruster when it fired” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 26.
“tumbling gyro” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 45.
“lose our ability to discriminate accurately” Ibid.
“engage the spacecraft’s other control system” Ibid., p. 46.
“We found the culprit” Ibid., p. 47.
“Murphy’s law says bad things always happen” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 27.
“I knew what the mission rules were” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 46.
“I had to go back to the foundation instincts” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 26.
“I wanted to stay up” NAA to Barton C. Hacker, Houston, TX, Apr. 6, 1967, p. 20.
“we steered a course for Okinawa” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 49.
“We appeared to be dropping at a prodigious rate” Ibid.
“coming down in Red China” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 27.
“We assumed it was friendly” Ibid.
“Gemini was a terrible boat” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 35.
“I was very depressed” Ibid., p. 50.
“Our job was to protect Armstrong and Scott” WMS, Schirra’s Space, p. 173.
“The wind took it right back out again!” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 51.
“I’ll get a gun and sink her!” WMS, Schirra’s Space, p. 174.
“We tried to tell them everything we knew” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 52.
“It was a great disappointment to us” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 26.
“I JUST HAD A PHONE CALL FROM NEIL ARMSTRONG” Telegram, Hank Suydom, Houston, to Dave Snell, New York City, “RUSH PERSONAL,” Mar. 29, 1966, copy in NAA personal files.
run articles on Gemini VIII In Life, Mar. 25, 1966, and Apr. 1, 1966.
“I’ll speak for both of us” The contributions to the Life article entitled “A Case of ‘Constructive Alarm,’” published in the Apr. 1, 1966, issue, were sent from Houston to New York by Teletype: Hank Suydam to Time, Inc., New York City, Mar. 28, 1966, copy in NAA personal files.
“I know that you were not entirely satisfied with the result” Edward K. Thompson to NAA and David Scott, Apr. 5, 1966, copy in NAA personal files.
“What Went Wrong?” United Press International, “What Went Wrong? Tapes Hold Secret,” New York World-Telegram, Mar. 17, 1966.
“We are very proud of them” Statement issued by Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson, Pres.Doc., Mar. 21, 1966, p. 400.
“criticize Neil’s performance” EC, The Last Man on the Moon, p. 101.
“turned out to be the wrong thing to do” TS, WHC, p. 84.
“the crew had unnecessarily activated a backup control system” Walter Cunningham, with Mickey Herskowitz, The All-American Boys, pp. 91–92.
“participated in that crap” FB to author, Las Cruces, NM, Mar. 15, 2003, p. 10.
“Everybody second-guessed everybody” AB to author, Houston, TX, Feb. 7, 2003, pp. 36–37.
“Neil could have done” James McDivitt to author, Tucson, AZ, Apr. 7, 2003, p. 8.
“one ring of their reentry system” BA to author, Albuquerque, NM, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 15.
“You’ll never hear it from me” JG to author, Columbus, OH, Sept. 23, 2003, p. 7.
“life-threatening situation” CCK, Flight: My Life in Mission Control, pp. 254, 255.
“I was damn impressed with Neil” EFK to author, Dickinson, TX, Feb. 6, 2003, p. 5.
“never forget this mission’s lesson” EFK, Failure Is Not an Option, p. 174.
“We tricked the astronauts on that one” CKK to author, Feb. 7, 2003, p. 9.
“figure out the right diagnosis” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 48.
“the technicians did something that put a nick in that cable” Ibid.
“we had done everything right” Scott, Two Sides of the Moon, p. 181.
“remained a mystery” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 48.
“They wouldn’t have known what happened” Dave Scott to author, Atlanta, GA, Feb. 1, 2003, p. 37.
“a big glitch in the program” CKK to author, Feb. 7, 2003, p. 10.
“it could have been a showstopper” Scott, Two Sides of the Moon, p. 180.
“nothing…that affected their crew assignments” MC to author, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 11.
“Neil quick-thinking” WAA to author, San Diego, CA, Sept. 8, 2003, p. 10.
“even greater confidence in Neil’s abilities” CKK to author, Feb. 7, 2003, p. 12.
“the crew demonstrated remarkable piloting skill” Gilruth quoted in Manned Spacecraft Center, “Mission Evaluation Team Lauds Quick-Thinking Gemini VIII Crew,” Space News Roundup, Apr. 1, 1966, p. 1.
“parlayed a busted Gemini VIII flight into the Buck Rogers grand prize mission” Cunningham, The All-American Boys, p. 92. 274 “affect us some way in the future” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 53.
“get right back into the cycle” NAA to Barton C. Hacker, Apr. 6, 1967, p. 24.
Chapter 20: The Astronaut’s Wife
“space hero” “Wapak Awaits Celebration for Hometown Spaceman,” LN, Apr. 10, 1966.
“Wapakoneta made the request” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, pp. 53–54.
“You are my people” Carolyn Focht, “‘More Than I Deserve,’” Columbus (OH) Dispatch, Apr. 14, 1966; Al Kattman, “Proud Hometown Greets Astronaut,” Lima News, Apr. 14, 1966.
“more than I deserve” Focht, “‘More Than I Deserve.’”
“Those dear people” VEA to DJH, Wapakoneta, OH, n.d. (ca. Mar. 1969], Life interview, Tape 1B, p. 18. Copy in VEAP.
“Indeed, we know nothing yet” VEAP, “Looking Back,” n.d. [ca. 1976], p. 3.
“Our prayers were answered” Ibid., p. 4.
“temptation…too great to ignore” EC, The Last Man on the Moon, pp. 82–83.
“Life treated the men and their families” Letter, DJH to Perry Michael Whyte, Iowa State University, Jan. 1977, quoted in AC, A Man on the Moon, p. 633, n. 349.
“they are really home hardly at all” JSA to DJH, Mar. 12, 1969, p. 2.
“Certainly I realize that there are risks” Ibid., p. 1.
“‘I want to go see Lurton’” Ibid., p. 6
“I was furious” JSA to author, Sept. 10, 2004 (afternoon), p. 19.
“‘what about the wives?’” Ibid., p. 20.
“listening but not watching” “High Tension over the Astronauts,” Life, Mar. 25, 1966.
“But also I am a fatalist” Ibid.
“blah, blah, blah” JSA to author,
Sept. 10, 2004 (afternoon), p. 19.
“Elliot was a hard worker, diligent” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 29.
“qualifications as an astronaut” Ibid.
“‘Charlie was a very affable fellow’” Ibid., p. 34.
“I don’t have any knowledge of them having such concerns” Ibid., p. 35.
“crisscrossed with tidy streets” AC, A Man on the Moon, p. 20
“We were looking for property” NAA to author, Cincinnati, OH June 2, 2002 (morning), p. 10.
“We had a swimming pool” NAA to author, June 2, 2002, p. 27.
“children weren’t asphyxiated” JSA to DJH, El Lago, TX, n.d. (ca. March 1969), Life interview, transcript, p. 10.
“He took one leap and he was over” JSA to DJH, n.d. (ca. March 1969), p. 11.
“Ed certainly had the ability” NAA to author, June 2, 2002, p. 25.
“But no…Neil didn’t do that!” JSA to DJH, n.d. (ca. March 1969), p. 12.
“I just held my breath the whole time” NAA to author, June 2, 2002, p. 25.
“the longest journey” he ever made JSA to DJH, n.d. (summer 1969), p. 13.
“I’ve got an Excedrin headache” Ibid., p. 14.
“It was a terrible mess afterwards” Ibid., p. 15.
“We really made a mess of their whole place!” Ibid., p. 16.
Seabrook, Tex., April 24, 1964 (UPI) “Home of Astronaut Burns,” NYT, Apr. 24, 1964, p. 23.
“consumed by the smoke” JSA to DJH, n.d. (summer 1969), p. 13.
“It could have been catastrophic” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 27.
“I never cried” JSA to DJH, n.d. (summer 1969), p. 14.
“we had minimum furniture” Ibid., p. 13.
“I’ll never forget how grateful I was to all the neighbors” Ibid., p. 15.
“a good six months” Ibid.285 “His models, we saved those” Ibid., p. 16.
“It was not a ‘spec’ home” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 10.
“just an inconvenience” Ibid., p. 27.
“I vowed I’d never build another house!” JSA to DJH, n.d. (summer 1969), p. 17.
“inspectors found the cause” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 25.
“detector systems” JSA to DJH, n.d. (summer 1969), p. 17.
“married to an astronaut” JSA tape-recording for DJH, transcribed Apr. 2, 1969, p. 5.
“As his wife I do keep his clothes clean for him” Ibid., p. 1.
“It never, never shows in Neil that he’s had a very distressed day” Ibid., p. 3.