Reader\'s Digest Australia - 07.2019

July• 2019 | 33

READER’S DIGEST

chilling them down. Von Braun, his
eyes glued to the monitor screens, his
ears catching every word spoken in
the intercom system, saw the temper-
atures dropping.

THE AUTOMATIC SEQUENCE BEGAN.
(“No one presses a button to send
her off,” Petrone had explained.) The
louvred shades rotated slightly. As the
last minutes of the countdown slipped
by, there was complete silence in the

firing room. Von Braun swung round

in his chair and looked out the win-

dow. The ‘bird’ was steaming. Wisps of

vented oxygen trailed from the neck of

the vehicle. More than 550 kilograms

of frost blanketed the great rocket.

Then the voice of the communica-

tor took up the final count. “10 ... 9 ...”

Silently, von Braun began to pray:

“Our Father which art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name ...”

The voice continued: “Ignition

sequence starts ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ...” Every-

one in the room held their breath.

Smoke billowed out from under

Apollo. Angry orange and red flames

slammed out of the five great engines

• and slowly, very slowly, the huge
  moon rocket began to rise. Five cen-
  timetres, Petrone knew, a mere five
  centimetres – then the service arms
  swing back on automatic command.
  Majestically, on a great golden pillar
  of fire, Apollo rose, seemed to pause,
  and moved slightly to the right as
  it was pre-planned to do, avoiding
  any possible collision with the tow-
  er. Spitting f lame from its engines,
  it roared up and above the Launch
  Control Center.
  Three seconds later the blast hit
  the command post, causing the
  windows to vibrate like leaves in the
  wind. Higher and higher the rocket
  ship rose. ThenApollowas gone. In
  this irretrievable moment in history,
  the first men were on their way to
  the moon.

The historic launch ofApol lo 11

carried three men towards the moon

THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN READER’S DIGEST IN OCTOBER, 1969.