“questions about his work” JSA to DJH, Mar. 12, 1969, p. 2.
“it is definitely a strain on the wife and the family” Ibid.
“miss the fun part” Ibid., p. 3.
“children are in need of something” Ibid., p. 4.
“make sure they understand what is happening” Ibid., p. 7.
“When you put your children in public” Ibid., pp. 7–8.
“Something that occurred to me the other day when I was driving the car” JSA tape recording for DJH, transcribed Apr. 2, 1969, p. 1.
“Living in the present is most important” Ibid., p. 2.
“it’s of prime importance that you are able to understand yourself” Ibid., pp. 1–2.
“maintain one’s own identity” Ibid., pp. 7–8.
“like a coffee” JSA to author, Sept. 10, 2004 (afternoon), p. 28.
ended in divorce or separation On the list of those who divorced was Buzz and Joan (Archer) Aldrin, Alan and Sue (Ragsdale) Bean, Gene and Barbara (Atchley) Cernan, Pete and Jane (DuBose) Conrad, Dick and Barbara (Field) Gordon, Fred and Mary (Monroe) Haise, Edgar and Louise (Randall) Mitchell, Dave and Lurton (Ott) Scott, Tom and Faye (Shoemaker) Stafford, Alfred and Pamela (Vander Beek) Worden, John and Barbara (White) Young, and ultimately, but not until 1994, Neil and Janet (Shearon) Armstrong. Ken Mattingly separared from his wife Elizabeth (Dailey) several years prior to her death in 1991.
“my tunnel vision” EC, The Last Man on the Moon, p. 68.
“NASA did not have a survival handbook for our wives” Ibid.
Chapter 21: For All America
“This was my third run-through” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 1.
“it wasn’t going to be successful” RFG to author, Apr. 12, 2003, p. 28.
“two vehicles in formation” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 2.
“We’d go out on the beach and work out trajectory procedures” Ibid., pp. 1–2.
“a very nice flight, indeed” MC, Liftoff, pp. 111–12.
“stable orientations while tethered” NAA: e-mail to author, June 30, 2004.
“a cool and methodical demonstration” MC, Liftoff, p. 112.
“Gemini was timely and synergistic” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 8.
“loss of friends” NAA: e-mail to author, July 24, 2004.
“spontaneous, friendly, and extremely warm” George Low, Latin American TourWith Astronauts Armstrong and Gordon, October 7–31, 1966, unpublished manuscript, Nov. 16, 1966, p. iii.
“Neil and Dick were out of their cars shaking hands” Ibid., p. 58.
“whether we would get out in one piece” Ibid., pp. 27–28.
“organized campaign to embarrass us” Ibid., p. 40.
“every rooftop along the motorcade route was covered with armed soldiers” Ibid., p. 57.
“the weather in Asunción” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 55.
“Fernando was Dutch” NAA to author, June 2, 2003, p. 56.
“He was not an immovable type” Ibid., p. 54.
“short little speeches” Low, Latin American Tour, pp. 61–62.
“official visit by a team of scientists as well as space heroes” Ibid., p. iv.
Part Six: Apollo
E NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 33.
Chapter 22: Out of the Ashes
“non-staking-a-claim treaty” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 29.
a reception in the Green Room The astronaut who best recollects the details of the White House reception for the Outer Space Treaty that took place simultaneously with the Apollo fire is Jim Lovell. See Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, pp. 7–12 and 21–22.
“Don’t leave the hotel” Quoted in ibid., p. 23.
“did not know anything” JSA to author, Sept. 11, 2004 (morning), p. 1.
“tell Pat about it before she heard it on television” WAA to author, San Diego, CA, Apr. 8, 2003, p. 24.
“unique time to share ourselves” JSA to author, Sept. 11, 2004 (morning), p. 2.
get to the Moon before the end of the decade Quoted in Lovell and Kluger, LostMoon, p. 24.
“I don’t blame people for anything” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 6.
“it really hurt to lose them in a ground test” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 28.
“injuries and even deaths are easier to accept” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 6.
“it was some bad oversight” Ibid.
“It is a remarkable coincidence” Ibid., p. 7.
“I was involved in doing other things” Ibid., p. 5.
“We were given the gift of time” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 29.
“everyone not working on fire-related matters” MC, Liftoff, p. 137.
“The operative word is ‘may’” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 7.
Chapter 23: Wingless on Luna
“lunar gravity” NAA to author, Cincinnati, OH, June 3, 2004, p. 24.
“That was a natural thing for us” Ibid., p. 7.
helicopters “could neither replicate the consequences of lunar gravity nor the handling characteristics of reaction system machines” NAA, Wingless on Luna, p. 6.
“wingless on Luna” NAA used this phrase as the title of the speech he gave before the Wings Club at the Inter-Continental Hotel in New York City on May 20, 1988, “Wingless on Luna,” Twenty-fifth Wings Club, General Harold R. Harris Sight Lecture. Armstrong’s lecture was published as a small book later that year, with Armstrong holding the copyright.
“experimental VTOL machines” NAA to author, WOL, p. 6.
“We were aware of that work” NAA: e-mail to author, July 24, 2004.
“Our first idea” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 24.
“Campbell Soup can sitting on top of legs” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 31.
“You ought to go talk to them” Gene Matranga to author, Dec. 12, 2002, p. 12.
“We at the Marshall Space Flight Center” “Concluding Remarks by Dr. Wernher von Braun About Mode Selection for the Lunar Landing Program Given to Dr. Joseph F. Shea, Acting Director (Systems) Office of Manned Space Flight,” June 7, 1962, copy in Milton Ames Collection, Langley Historical Archives, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA.
“Bell already had a design for the LLRV” GJM to author, Dec. 12, 2002, p. 13.
“In the lunar simulation mode” NAA, WOL, p. 11.
“I did go to Edwards a few times” NAA: e-mail to author, July 24, 2004.
“Neil made sure” GJM to author, Dec. 12, 2002, p. 13.
“control characteristics ideal” NAA, WOL, p. 6.
“an engineer’s delight” Ibid., p. 8.
“It worked surprisingly well” Ibid., p. 9.
“excessively sluggish” Ibid.
“The LLRF was a clever device” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 30.
“actual lunar lander would have little ground effect” Ibid., p. 8.
“Having no flying machines to simulate lunar control” Ibid., p. 7.
“prohibitively time consuming and expensive” Ibid., p. 15.
“at least I had the chance to give my input” NAA: e-mail to author, Aug. 1, 2004.
“helicopter wasn’t a good simulation” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 27.
“almost bad training” WAA to author, San Diego, CA, Sept. 18, 2003, p. 22.
“a hairy deal” FB to author, Las Cruces, NM, April 15, 2003.
“worry about flying it” JEL to author, Dayton, OH, July 17, 2004.
“Neil’s first experiences in the LLTV” WAA to author, Sept. 18, 2003, p. 10.
“The LLTV proved to be an excellent simulator” NAA, WOL, p. 15.
“At that height a glitch could be fatal” BA, Men from Earth, p. 187.
“I wouldn’t call it routine” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 27.
“It’s hard to compare against combat” Ibid., p. 28.
Houston sent the following priority telegram NASA MSC, Houston, Tex., to National Aeronautics and Space Adminis
tration, Attn B. P. Helgeson and J. F. Lederer, May 6, 1968. Copy in NAA’s personal files, LLRV/LLRF material.
“He activated the ejection seat” CCK, Flight, p. 312.
“Neil was shaken up pretty badly” BA, Men from Earth, p. 187.
“little time to analyze alternatives” NAA to SA&DB, in Quest, p. 32.
“a higher wind than we normally dealt with” GJM to author, Dec. 12, 2002, p. 15.
“Neil didn’t think much of that” Ibid., p. 16.
“‘An hour ago!’” AB to author, Houston, TX, Feb. 7, 2003, pp. 23–24.
“I mean, what are you going to do?” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 28.
“The LLTV was…a high-risk vehicle” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, pp. 28–29.
“Gilruth and I were ready to eliminate it completely” CCK, Flight, p. 312.
“It’s dangerous, damn it!” Ibid., p. 313.
“we let them keep it” Ibid.
“We are very pleased with the way it flies” UPI, “Neil Armstrong Praises Lunar Landing Vehicle During Tests,” LN, July 17, 1969.
“absolutely required to prepare” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 29.
“defend the things that you’ve been involved in the creation of” Ibid.
Chapter 24: Amiable Strangers
“in Mission Control” NAA to author, Cincinnati, OH, June 3, 2003, p. 14.
“that was enormously bold” Ibid., p. 16.
“I cannot imagine NASA management” Ibid., p. 9.
“but we sure had the motivation to get it done” Ibid., p. 10.
“Deke laid out his thinking about Apollo 11” Ibid., p. 17.
“it would be not right of me to pull Lovell out of line for a command” Ibid.
“I had a little difficulty in my own mind putting Aldrin above Collins” Ibid.
“Deke didn’t think that Fred was quite ready for a prime crew” Ibid., p. 18.
“I was not aware of any disappointment on Fred Haise’s part” Ibid., p. 19.
“I was comfortable with him” Ibid., p. 11.
“It was a remarkably trouble-free flight” Ibid., p. 14.
“We were just doing our jobs” NAA to author, Cincinnati, OH, June 4, 2003, p. 25.
“public interest all the time” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 13.
“this will be the first lunar landing” Ibid., p. 18.
“Moon Team Is Named” CPD, Jan. 10, 1969.
“these are the first guys who will be concentrating the greatest extent on getting alanding done” Slayton comment at Apollo 11 Crew Press Conference, Manned Spacecraft Center, Jan. 10, 1969, 1A/1.
“amiable strangers” MC, CTF, p. 442.
San Antonio…had “something extra going for it” MC, quoted in FOM, p. 128.
“A house of ill-repute was right there” Ibid.
“just a normal, active, troublesome kid” Ibid., p. 129.
“In the end I chose West Point” Ibid.
“I’d rather do something than study about it” Ibid., p. 130.
“I chose the air force” Ibid., p. 20.
“all this combination in one man” Patricia Collins, quoted in FOM, p. 131.
“Never…had [I] seen such a good lawyer’s brief in six sentences” Ibid., p. 132.
“there is no Easter Bunny” MC, quoted in FOM, p. 139.
“I feel a bit freakish” MC to author, Marco Island, FL, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 15.
“My father must have been distressed” BA, RTE, pp. 88–89.
“my experience at camp” BA, quoted in FOM, p. 156.
“My father never gave direct instructions nor stated goals” BA, RTE, p. 88.
“Buzz prefers Annapolis” BA’s mother, quoted in FOM, p. 156.
“aligned towards the army air corps” BA to author, Albuquerque, NM, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 11.
“you knew exactly where you were at all times” BA, RTE, p. 111.
“I fully expected my father to be disappointed” Ibid., p. 117.
“He was still lobbying for me to change to multiengine aircraft” Ibid., p. 121.
“if I didn’t watch it I’d end up with a reputation as a hotshot egotist” Ibid., p. 133.
“the engineering wonders of pipes” BA, RTE, pp. 93–94.
“I knew I needed more formal education” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 10.
“I was first in our class of air force officers” BA, RTE, p. 146.
“practical application to the air force” Ibid.
“how to please academia” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 12. See also, RTE, pp. 149–50.
“They wanted me to revise” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 12.
“If only I could join them in their exciting endeavors!” Dedication to Aldrin’s MIT doctoral thesis, copy in the MIT Library, Cambridge, MA. The author wishes to thank Dr. Debbie Douglas for securing materials related to Aldrin’s doctoral thesis and his MIT education, as well as information about Aldrin Sr.’s MIT degree.
“I knew darned well” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 10. See also RTE, pp. 150–51.
Dr. Rendezvous BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 13.
“Buzz was very able in rendezvous matters” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 11.
“I had been brash” BA, RTE, pp. 160–61.
“under prevailing custom I would skip two flights” Ibid., p. 161.
“Charlie felt you should been in it all along” Ibid., p. 166.
“Frank shot back that he didn’t need any suggestions from me” Ibid., p. 197.
“what might be considered eccentricities” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 12.
“difference between those three men” Gunther Wendt, Unbroken Chain, p. 129.
“Neil and I hardly knew one another” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, unrecorded comment.
Chapter 25: First Out
“You want to take a crack at it?” NAA comment, Apollo 11 Crew Press Conference, Manned Spacecraft Center, Jan. 10, 1969, 1C/1.
“Every step will be firmly decided prior to flight” Ibid.
“I would have preferred to go on a later lunar flight” BA, RTE, p. 200.
“No one had ever refused a flight” Ibid.
“I am going to land on the Moon” Ibid., p. 201.
“Aldrin to Be First Man on the Moon” New Orleans Times-Picayune, Feb. 27, 1969.
“Such a move, I thought, was an insult to the service” BA, RTE, p. 205.
“too explosive for even the subtlest maneuvering” Ibid.
“Clearly, the matter was weighing on him as well” Ibid., p. 206.
“didn’t want to rule out the possibility of going first” Ibid.
“probably wouldn’t have written it that way” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 24.
“all the time struggling not to be angry with Neil” BA, RTE, p. 206.
“I felt that I owed it” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 23.
“Aldrin’s arguments” EC, Last Man on the Moon, p. 231.
“I had enough problems” MC, CTF, p. 352.
“everything Buzz presented” MC to author, Mar. 25, 2003, p. 15.
“I didn’t really want to be first” BA to author, Mar. 17, 2003, p. 23.
“It was a little different when you were an egghead from MIT like me” Ibid.
“It would have been so inappropriate” Ibid., p. 11. See also RTE, p. 206.
“Whether or not I was going to be the first to step onto the Moon” Ibid.
“the subject of gossip, speculation, and awkward encounters” Ibid., pp. 206–07.
“I finally got him to promise he’d stay out of it” Ibid., p. 206.
“I went finally to George Low” Ibid., p. 207.
“weeks of speculation” John Noble Wilford, “Armstrong Designated as First to Set Foot on Lunar Surface,” NYT, Apr. 15, 1969.
“plans called for Mr. Armstrong to be the first man out” Aeronautics and Astronautics Chronology on Science, Technology, and Policy, 1969, p. 108.366 “how the matter was finally decided” BA,
RTE, p. 207.
“Buzz’s attitude took a noticeable turn” MC, CTF, p. 352.
“He alienated a lot of people” Wendt, The Unbroken Chain, p. 129.
“I always thought Aldrin would be the first” Stephen Armstrong, quoted in “Moonman’s Father Worried over Feat,” CPD, Apr. 16, 1969.
“I had no preconceived notions at that point who it would be” NAA to author, June 4, 2003, p. 15.
“The reality was that it was not something that I thought was really very important” Ibid.
“I was not aware of any of that at the time” Ibid., p. 33.
“Did Moonman Pull Rank?” Akron Beacon Journal, June 27, 1969.
“Armstrong Demands First-on-Moon Role” Dayton Journal Herald, June 27, 1969.
“Precisely why the change” Paul Haney, quoted in “Switch Puts Armstrong First—Haney,” CPD, June 27, 1969.
“expectation . . . for Apollo” NAA to author, June 4, 2003, p. 18.
“The only firm plan ever made was the one we’re going to go with” George Low, quoted in “Armstrong Demands First-on-Moon Role,” Dayton Journal Herald, June 27, 1969. Before he made this statement, on June 26, Low received a call in the middle of the night from the Associated Press informing him that “they had a story that Neil Armstrong had pulled rank on Buzz Aldrin to be the first man on the surface of the moon.” The AP wanted to know “whether it was true and how the decision was reached concerning who would get out of the LM first.” At the office that morning, Low prepared a brief from MSC Public Affairs Officer Brian Duff that summarized his recollection of how the decision was made. Interestingly, Low concluded, “I am sure that Armstrong had made an input to this recommendation, but he, by no means, had the final say.” According to Low, “the basic decision” was made by his Configuration Control Board…based on a recommendation by the Flight Crew Operations Directorate” at MSC. George M. Low, Manager, Apollo Spacecraft Program, to B. M. Duff, June 27, 1969, copy in the JSC archives at the University of Houston–Clear Lake.
“my recommendation was never asked for or given” NAA comment, Apollo 11 Crew Press Conference, MSC, Jan. 10, 1969, 4B/3–4.
“Buzz may have felt that” NAA to author, June 3, 2003, p. 15.
“when you were pressurized in the suit” Ibid., p. 16.
“an inherent risk involved” Ibid., p. 15.
“It was a nothing thing” AB to author, Houston, TX, Feb. 7, 2003, p. 11.
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