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 … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #355 – Apollo 16 – The Launch first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

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 … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #354 – Apollo 16 – CMDR John W. Young first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“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.

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“cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). Rene Descartes.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“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

The post Space Rocket History #348 – Apollo 15 – Traverse 3 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

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.

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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 post Space Rocket History #346 – Apollo 15 – Traverse 2-Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.