By Michael Annis
Welcome to the Space Rocket History podcast
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Strangely enough the MOL astronauts only knew of the cover story that the program would be a space laboratory for military experiments and did not learn of the reconnaissance role until after selection.
NASA feasibility studies determined that a research space laboratory could be placed in orbit by 1967. However, to fund such a project it had to be justified by achieving a national goal, or an important science goal, or test of...
A scant five months after Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in December of 1972, NASA launched Skylab to begin a new phase of American manned spaceflight – space station operations.
Once its antennas were deployed, Explorer 49 was the largest human-made object to orbit the Moon as of 2022.
Launched in 1972 and weighing 258 kilograms (569 pounds), Pioneer 10 completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter and became the first of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System.
“The UK 4 (United Kingdom Research Satellite 4), a.k.a. Ariel 4, was a small observatory designed to investigate the interactions between electromagnetic waves, plasmas, and energetic particles present in the upper ionosphere.” Wikipedia
This is how Deputy Chief Designer for OKB-1, Boris Chertok described the launch of Mars 3. “The red disk of the Sun was just touching the horizon and dramatically illuminated the rocket as it lifted off with a roar. Separation...
Mariner 8 and 9 were virtually identical and designed to continue the atmospheric studies begun by Mariner 6 and 7, and to hopefully map over 70% of the Martian surface.
The Apollo 17 mission was the most productive and trouble-free piloted mission to the moon and represented the culmination of continual advancements in hardware, procedures, training, planning, operations, and scientific experiments.
At 4:56 Houston time, Gene rested the tip of his left index finger on the yellow ignition button.
“As we leave the Moon and Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo Seventeen.” – Gene Cernan’s final words from the surface of...
“How can there be orange soil on the Moon?! (Pause) Jack, that is really orange.” Gene Cernan
Gene Cernan’s first words were “As I step off at the surface of Taurus-Littrow, I’d like to dedicate the first steps of Apollo Seventeen to all those who made it possible.”
Gene had a deadlock visual on the landing site. He knew exactly where he was, and the LM had become part of him, responding to his wishes as well as his touch on the controls as they lowered closer to...
For the next two days, Jack Schmitt would do a running account of Earth’s weather patterns. One Capcom even called Schmitt the human weather satellite.
At 12:33 A.M. Dec. 7th 1972, “the hold-down arms released and the mighty Saturn V stirred, balanced on a dazzling fireball that grew to the size of an atomic bomb. As a show-stopping spectacular, nothing in the entire space program...
By the time they reached the elevator, Cernan felt absolutely charmed, and was grinning from ear to ear. His Saturn V sparkled like a 363-foot-high jewel rampant against the night sky, center stage and draped in spotlights.
Flight director Gene Kranz wrote that Cernan was his favorite because of his carefree and jovial attitude, unabashed patriotism, and his close personal relationship with the flight controllers.
Harrison Schmitt played a key role in training Apollo crews to be geologic observers when they were in lunar orbit and competent geologic field workers when they were on the lunar surface. After each of the landing missions, he participated...
Apollo 17 would break several crewed spaceflight records: 1) longest moon mission duration: 12 days 13 hours 52 minutes (just a day and a third shorter than the 14 days set in 1965 by Gemini 7), 2) longest total lunar...
On re-entry Casper hit the atmosphere at an altitude of about 400,000 feet above the earth and at a velocity of nearly 25,000 miles per hour.
The LM eventually crashed due to lunar gravity anomalies. Since Houston didn’t know exactly where it landed, it was not useful to calibrate seismic experiments on the surface.
It was the only time in their whole lunar stay that Charlie had a real moment of panic and thought he had killed himself.
The crew nicknamed this operation “The Big Sneak.” They figured the only way to do this was to approach from behind a big rock, then reach over and collect the sample.
John and Charlie also collected several rusty-looking rocks with brown stains on their surfaces. These were exciting finds because the rusty appearance suggested the presence of hydrated oxides of iron. “Hydrated” meant water and the scientists had a serious interest...
Flag Crater was so steep that if either one of them fell in, it would have been fatal! There was no rescue from the bottom of a big crater.
Charlie and John were startled by their landing spot. Much of the landing area was covered with rocks or had a steep slope. Fortunately, they had managed to land on the only level and smooth spot around.
“There you are, our mysterious and unknown Descartes Highlands Plains. Apollo 16 is gonna change your image.” John Young
Due to the change in their flight plan caused by the six-hour delay, the crew had to reprogram a great deal of their onboard data, and this had to be done before they had LOS.
In the event of a secondary control system failure in the engine, the mission rules stated the entire landing phase of the mission would have to be terminated.
“Unlike the roller-coaster ride of Earth orbit, we are entering a slow-motion domain where time and distance seem to have more meaning than speed.” Mike Collins
It looked like they had a leak from one of the propellant tanks on the Lunar Module. If so, that meant abort!
Duke was startled. Why was it shaking so hard? What in the world was happening? There had to be something wrong with this rocket. He didn’t recall any briefing to expect this violent vibration as they sat on the launch...
T-90 seconds and all Charlie Duke could think about was let’s go! There was no fear, no reluctance, no second thoughts. He was consumed with the desire to hear the words Lift-off. He felt this was his one and only...
John Watts Young was an astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He became the ninth person to walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. He flew on four different classes...
“Roger, Twank…Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot!,” Capcom Charlie Duke, Apollo 11 landing.
“cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). Rene Descartes.
As the red smoke cleared, Al saw widening holes in one of their parachutes, collapsing it into a useless strip of cloth. “We’ve got a streamer on one,” Al reported.
On Hadley Plain, at 171:37 GET, right on schedule, Falcon’s engine lit, hurling the ascent stage upward in an impressive flurry of dust and debris, captured for the first time on camera and transmitted live to a world-wide audience.
After being cooped up together so closely with his fellow astronauts inside Endeavor, Worden enjoyed stretching out for his solo flight. Now he really got to fly.
“We pray for one last landingOn the globe that gave us birth;Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skiesAnd the cool, green hills of Earth.” Robert A. Heinlein
Both men realized what they had discovered. The rock was almost entirely plagioclase. This was surely a chunk of anorthosite, a piece of the primordial crust, the Genesis Rock.
Suddenly, Scott called out that the Rover was beginning to slide down the hill. As the back wheels came off the ground, Scott quickly got back on to hold the rover down.
The whole stripped-down rover weighed about 455 pounds on Earth but only 76 pounds on the moon and was built to carry 2 1/2 times its weight at a maximum speed of about 10 miles per hour.
After a good nights sleep, Houston woke the astronauts up an hour early the next morning because of a slight oxygen leak.
It was immediately clear that Falcon had landed on uneven ground, right on the rim of a small crater; the LM was tipped backward at a slight angle. It turned out that one of the rear feet had landed in...
Craning to look through the triangular window for a glimpse of the land ahead, Scott saw no sign of Hadley Rille.
The SPS engine was used for all the future burns. It was the astronauts ticket home. Any doubt as to whether it could fire raised the question as to whether the mission could continue.
For Scott all feelings were forgotten. All senses except sight were subordinated. All Scott’s concentration was focused on hearing information from Irwin, Worden and Mission Control about the status of the spacecraft and the Saturn V.
The last face they saw was Guenter’s, smiling and waving an enormous crescent wrench. Then the heavy hatch closed with a deep thunk.