When America Went to the Moon
The cold war inspired it, big bucks backed it and Yankee ingenuity made it happen; 25 years later, the footprints in the lunar dust still inspire awe
U.S. manned space flight vehicles As the space program grew, bigger and more-sophisticated boosters were required. Later in this decade the space shuttle will be used to assemble the International Space Station.
[Height] [Thrust] [Human Space Missions]
Mercury-Redstone 83 feet 82,000 lbs of thrust 2 suborbital missions
Mercury-Atlas 95.5 feet 367,000 lbs of thrust 4 orbital missions
Gemini-Titan 109 feet 430,000 lbs of thrust 10 orbital missions
Saturn 5 363 feet 7,570,000 lbs of thrust 10 missions
Space Shuttle 184 feet 6,925,000 lbs of thrust 62 orbital missions
USN&WR--Basic data:NASA
SATURN 5 LAUNCH VEHICLE: First stage; Second stage; Third stage; Lunar module; Command module; Service module; Launch escape system
THE MEN WHO WERE NEARLY MAROONED IN SPACE Apollo 13 was to have made the third moon landing. Instead, it became NASA's most successful failure. James Lovell, Fred Haise and John Swigert intended to explore rugged lunar highlands. But on the way, "we heard a loud 'hurrump' and a bang," Lovell recalls. An oxygen tank in the service module had exploded, causing a second tank to rupture. No oxygen meant no electricity could be generated by fuel cells. No electricity meant the rocket motor on the service module couldn't fire. Many feared the men would not be able to return.
Yet they survived, rigging the lunar module as a lifeboat in a monument to ingenuity. Firing the descent engine, they put the craft in a path to swing around the moon and back toward home. Lithium-hydride canisters scavenged from the command module removed carbon dioxide from air in the lunar module so they wouldn't be poisoned by their own breath. At the end, they powered up the command module with backup batteries and made a pinpoint splashdown. Lovell has recounted their adventure in Lost Moon, to be published in October. Film director Ron Howard will dramatize the mission next year. Tom Hanks will play Lovell.
[Photo captions]: EARTHRISE. The Apollo 11 landing altered forever mankind's view of its place in the firmament.
WARRIOR. For President Kennedy, the early Soviet success with Sputnik made the race to reach the moon first a matter of vital cold-war national interest.
FIRST STEPS. Tranquility Base was 240,000 miles away from the Florida launch pad where the adventure began. "The Eagle has landed."
PAY DIRT. Among the samples brought home by the explorers were 841 pounds of moon rocks and soil.
FLAG-WAVING. In an era in which America was consumed by self-doubt, the lunar missions were something that could turn out ticker-tape parades.
BUZZ ALDRIN APOLLO 11, 1969 For 2 1/2 decades, they've been asked the same question over and over again. What was it really like to be on the moon? If he wanted to, Buzz Aldrin could probably just repeat some variation of his famous first words on the lunar surface: "Magnificent desolation." But he refuses to. "I don't remember crystal clear," he says. "You write over what was stored in your mind each time you tell it." If he could go again, he reflects, "I'd look out the window more rather than just stare at the instrument panels."
advertisement
