by Jay Barbree
And once that lunar outpost is built, humans will remain on our only natural satellite. Planners are already looking at the moon’s south pole for a colony candidate, where NASA expects to find large concentrations of hydrogen in the form of water ice and an abundance of sunlight to provide power.
These plans give NASA a head start on getting to Mars. A lunar outpost just three days away from Earth will give space travelers needed practice of “living off the land” before starting out on the long road to the fourth planet from the sun.
Arguably the best mind on our planet today, famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believes “Life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as global warming, a genetically-engineered virus or other dangers.” Hawking says flatly, “I think the human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space.”
The good news is NASA has a devoted and strong man at its helm in Dr. Michael Griffin. He told my NBC colleague Tom Costello, “The space station is on the footpath towards becoming a space-faring nation. If we’re going to go to Mars, if we’re going to go beyond to live on other planetary surfaces and use what we find there and bend it to our will just as the pilgrims did, we must take all these steps to become a space-faring nation. I want that for the American people—I want that for my grandchildren.”
I find myself chomping at the bit to go. It’s the excitement of Columbus’s voyage, of the wagon trains west. The crossing of the space ocean to younger, more promising planets is the future of humankind if our species is to survive. The only foundation that will not sink beneath our feet is knowledge.
After fifty years on the job, I find myself satisfied and grateful and pleased with a life well spent. Life is indeed good, and we should all cherish it. Knowing that my days are numbered, I find myself missing all those good friends and loved ones that have gone on before. You have found their stories in these pages and in a way, I’m looking forward to following, meeting up with them again. But I am sad that I won’t be shouting into an NBC microphone about the building of a lunar colony or the start of a months-long journey to Mars.
God, what exciting times they will be!
What a future for those who will live it—those who will be going and those who will be staying as the flotilla sails for the fourth planet. How I would like to be there!
And don’t count me out just yet! Astronauts are to return to the moon in this century’s second decade. If my flesh makes it, I will be in my eighties. If not, my spirit won’t be far away.
Searchable Terms
Advanced Research Projects Agency ARPA)
Aldrin, Buzz
Apollo 11 mission. See Apollo 11
celebrating Apollo 13 return
Gemini 12 mission
mastering spacewalking
moonwalk
notified of lunar mission
photograph
Anders, Bill
Anderson, Mike
Angotti, Joe
Antares
Apollo 1 countdown
fire inside
Frank Sinatra and
funerals after
futile attempts to save men
hatch problem
incompetence leading to disaster
investigation after
Lovell prayer thanking crew of
Apollo 7
Apollo 8
Christmas message
communication blackout and return
crew
descriptions of moon/Earth from
first orbit around moon
onboard television coverage
reading from Genesis (Bible)
reason for launch time
return to Earth orbit
splashdown
transcript anecdote
Apollo 9
Apollo 10
Apollo 11 countdown
crew advised of lunar landing mission
forces on crew
if prerequisites
Jimmy Stewart watching
linking Eagle and Columbia
minute following liftoff
Apollo 11 (cont). moon landing
orbiting Earth
prelaunch preparations
public frenzy before
splashdown parties
thunderous liftoff
trans-lunar injection
See also moonwalk (first)
Apollo 12
Apollo 13
in circumlunar orbit
cold and lonely astronauts
Deke Slayton managing problems
diagnosing problems
explosion aboard
fuel cell problem
Lovell’s perspective
lunar module lifeboat
as NASA’s finest hour
Nixon’s celebratory visit after
prayers and support for
predicament of
preparation for reentry
re-engineering carbon dioxide scrubbers
reentry
return contingency
return to command module
shutting down systems
sleep for crew
splashdown
Apollo 14
Alan Shepard leading
Cone Crater excursion
docking/return of
leaving moon
lunar rickshaw of
moon samples
moonwalks
Nixon endorsing flight of
views of Earth
Apollo 15
Apollo 16
Apollo 17
Apollo program. See Project Apollo; specific Apollo missions
Apollo-Soyuz birth of
building equipment for
Deke Slayton and
docking in space
engendering U.S./Soviet trust
importance of
launch of
meals on
shaking hands
Aquarius
See also Apollo 13
Armstrong, Neil Bob Button pilot error and
celebrating Apollo 13 return
controlling reentry problem
as first civilian astronaut
Gemini 8 mission
as leading candidate for first moon landing
moon landing
moonwalk
NASA hiring
notified of lunar mission
See also Apollo 11
AstroChimp. See chimpanzees in space
astronauts early challenges
first civilian. See Armstrong, Neil
qualifications and screening
selection
women and, stories
See also Gemini Nine; Mercury Seven;
specific astronauts
Atlantis
Atlas 10B (Project Score)
Aurora Seven
Bailey, Terry
Bales, Steve
Barbree, Jay breaking Challenger story
Christmas Eve with John Glenn
enduring test chambers
family taking more attention
flying Messerschmitt plane
future vision
Jimmy Carter and
losing son
love of flying
military background
move to Merritt Island
photographs
radio broadcasting
reflections on career and space program
sudden death experience. See sudden death, of author telling whoppers
Barbree, Jo Reisinger
handling moon-launch crank callers
losing son
meeting/marrying author
photograph
responding to sudden death
watching Challenger disaster
Bean, Alan
Beatty, Morgan
Beckman, Dan
Bedard, Chris
Beddingfield, Sam
Benedict, Howard
Bloom, David
Bluford, Guion
Borman, Frank
Apollo 8 mission
on Apollo 12 fate
Gemini 7 mission
investigating Apollo 1 fire
NASA hiring
Brand, Vance
Brinkley, David
. See also Huntley-Brinkley Report
Broad, Bill
Brokaw, Tom
Challenger disaster coverage
Columbia disaster coverage
Hubble repair coverage
John Glenn return coverage
Brown, Curt
Brown, Dave
Browne, Don
Bubb, Mary
Button, Bob
Bykovsky, Valery F.
Caidin, Martin coauthoring Titov book
flying with author
N–1 information
novel inspiring space rescue
photograph
as reference for author
Russian sources
secret space book
Yuri Gagarin sharing memories with
Cain, LeRoy
Cape Canaveral history/ecological makeup
naming of
Capra, Frank
Carpenter, (Malcolm) Scott
Carr, Jerry
Carter, Jimmy
Caskey, Martha
Casper
Cavanaugh, Brian
Cernan, Jim
Chaffee, Roger
Challenger debut
Challenger disaster
author experience
black smoke indicator
breaking story of
breakup statistics
Christa McAuliffe and
countdown
countdown delay
crew photograph
crew surviving blast
crew unaware of problem
death of crew, unknown cause
flames and destruction
liftoff
O-ring seal problem
premonitions of
press reports
reactions to
recovering remains
weather conditions
Chancellor, John
Charlie Brown
Chawla, Kalpana
chimpanzees in space
Christmas mission. See Apollo
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Clark, Laurel
Clemons, Ed
Cocoa, Florida, early days
Coledan, Stefano
Collins, Eileen
Collins, Mike
Apollo 11 mission
Gemini 10 mission
on Presidential Goodwill Tour
Columbia (Apollo 11 command ship)
Columbia (Shuttle) first mission
last mission
See also Columbia(Shuttle) disaster pre-launch security breaches
rollout of
second mission
Columbia (Shuttle) disaster
countdown/liftoff
flight safety risk assessment
investigation after
Israeli on board
known foam risks
losing foam
ominous signs
planned mission
reentry and disintegration
search-and-recovery for
what-ifs
Conrad, Charles “Pete”
Apollo 12 mission
celebrating Apollo 13 return
Gemini 5 mission
“honoring” Mercury Seven
NASA hiring
Cooper, (Leroy) Gordon
accolades to
“buzzing” incident
cheating death
cleared for Mercury flight
Deke Slayton and
drag races
filling pool with fish
in Gemini
image and qualifications
Mercury flight
photographs
practical jokes
saving Mercury mission
traffic-cop incident
corned beef sandwich prank
Costello, Tom
Couric, Katie
Covey, Dick
Crippen, Robert “Crip,”
Cronkite, Walter
Destiny Laboratory
disasters and near-disasters Apollo 1
Aurora Seven
Friendship Seven
Gemini 8 reentry
Mercury-Redstone rocket
Mir fire and docking problem
Polaris launch
Soviet Voshkod
Vanguard
See also Apollo 13; Challenger disaster;
Columbia (Shuttle) disaster
Discoverer spy ship
Discovery flying after Challenger disaster
flying after Columbia disaster
John Glenn returning to space on
releasing Hubble