Astronomy

WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 23

“before this decade is out, of landing a man on the
Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

This set off a race between the two superpowers,
the United States and the Soviet Union, each of whom

wanted to demonstrate Cold War superiority. Early in
the game, the Soviet program was far ahead of the
Americans, with the first satellite (Sputnik 1), the first

man into space (Yuri Gagarin), the first spacewalk
(Alexei Leonov), and many other firsts. And the
Soviet Union had a full-blown expectation of landing

explorers on the Moon before the Americans could.
The wheels began to accelerate for what would

become the Apollo program, the U.S. attempt to land
astronauts on the Moon, even as other preliminary
programs took place. Mercury astronauts entered low-

Earth orbit, circling the globe. Launch facilities and
control centers were built.
Americans graduated to the Gemini program, a

two-seated capsule that would allow practice maneu-
vers later to be used for the Moon shot. All the while,
the Soviet Union raced ahead with their accomplish-

ments: the Vostok program, expansion of an enor-
mous launch facility in Kazakhstan, and the

ambitious Voskhod spacecraft.

Setbacks and successes

Both sides discovered that the exploration of space,
the pushing of the envelope, was a dangerous and
unpredictable business. Lives were lost in jet aircraft

crashes, including that of Gagarin. An explosion at
the Soviet Baikonur Cosmodrome killed dozens.

The death of the chief Soviet rocket designer, Sergei
Korolev, stalled the program, as did fatalities such as
the loss of the Soyuz 1 pilot, Vladimir Komorov.

Such tragedies brought the Soviet program almost
to a standstill. Meanwhile, the Americans experi-
enced disaster when the Apollo 1 spacecraft, in a fully

outfitted drill, caught fire, killing its three occupants:

Gus Grissom, Ed White, and

Roger Chaffee.

By late 1968, however, NASA and the

American program surged ahead, incorporating

lessons learned from the Apollo 1 fire. At year’s end,

NASA prepared for the first circumlunar test, Apollo 8,

with Commander Frank Borman, Command Module

Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot Bill Anders.

The mission went off successfully, with the crew

getting close-up views of the lunar far side, circling

our neighbor in space, and returning to Earth for a

splashdown two days after Christmas 1968. Not only

did the crew see — and photograph — Earth rising

over the Moon, but they famously read a biblical

creation story on Christmas Eve, sending chills

through many of the listeners.

Two more significant tests were left before humans

could set foot on the Moon. Apollo 9 would test space-

craft components, the pairing of the Command/Service

Module and the Lunar Module (LM), and would test

engines and docking procedures. That crew consisted

of Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot

Dave Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart.

In March 1969, the mission f lew without a hitch.

And then came Apollo 10, in which NASA con-

ducted a full dress rehearsal, set for May 1969. This

mission carried Commander Tom Stafford,

Command Module Pilot John Young, and Lunar

Module Pilot Gene Cernan. The Apollo 10 crew f lew

to the Moon, sent the Lunar Module on a descent,

and tested everything without actually landing.

NASA was now ready for the main event.

Finally, the Moon

The crew of Apollo 11 — Commander Neil

Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins,

and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin — blasted off

from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969. The

The patented OWL

Stereoscopic Viewer, designed

by Brian May, is a unique, high-

quality stereo-focusing viewer.

Two versions of the OWL

Viewer are available from

http://www.MyScienceShop.com.

The Lite OWL 3-D Viewer costs

only $4.99. The regular version

costs $17.99. Both work for

the book, for either of two

sets of astronomy-themed

stereo cards (also available

from http://www.MyScienceShop.com),

with any other vintage or

modern stereo cards, or with

any stereo illustrations in books

or magazines.

TURN FLAT PICTURES INTO 3D

Above left: The

Apollo 12 LM

Intrepid appears

to float over the

lunar limb as

photographed

by Dick Gordon

inside the

Command Module

Ya n ke e Cl i p p e r

on November 19,

1969. The large
      eroded crater in
      the foreground
      is Ptolemaeus,
      and the second
      largest is Herschel,
      on the right. At
      this time, the
      LM was 68 miles
      (110 kilometers)
      above the Moon’s
      surface. NASA/JSC