In the shadow of the moon: a challenging journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969

448 Pages·2007·2.09 MB·English

by  Francis French

In the Shadow of the Moon
Outward Odyssey
A People’s History of Spaceflight
Series editor
Colin Burgess
IN THE SHAD
Francis French and Colin Burgess
With a foreword by Walter Cunningham
OW OF THE MOON
A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965–1969
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS • LINCOLN AND LONDON
©2007 by the Board of Regents of the University of
Nebraska ¶ All rights reserved ¶ Manufactured in the
United States of America ¶ ∞ ¶ Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data ¶ French, Francis.
¶ In the shadow of the moon : a challenging journey
to Tranquility, 1965–1969 / Francis French and Colin
Burgess ; with a foreword by Walter Cunningham. ¶
p. cm. — ¶ (Outward odyssey : a people’s history
of spacefl ight) ¶ Includes bibliographical references.
¶isbn-13: 978-0-8032-1128-5 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-10:
0-8032-1128-7 (cloth : alk. paper) ¶ 1. Project Apollo
(U.S.) ¶ 2. Space fl ight to the moon. ¶ 3. Astronautics—
United States—History—20th century. ¶ 4. Space
race—History. ¶ I. Burgess, Colin. ¶ II. Title. ¶
tl789.8.u6a5337 2007 ¶ 629.45'4—dc22 ¶2006103047 ¶
Set in Adobe Garamond and Futura by Bob Reitz. ¶
Designed by R. W. Boeche.
For Dee O'Hara
Spacefarers need more than engineers to support them.

Over the mountains of the moon,
Down the valley of the shadow,
Ride, boldly ride.
Edgar Allen Poe,
Eldorado

Contents
List of Illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii
1. Gemini Raises the Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. A Rendezvous in Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3. The Ballet of Weightlessness. . . . . . . . . . .90
4. The Risk Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5. The Astronaut Enigma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
6. Starting Over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
7. Leaving the Good Earth. . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
8. A Test Pilot’s Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
9. The Highest Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Epilogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .413