1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: Nine Days in July is a production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Radio and Trade Traft Studios in association with High five Content. 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: On May fifth, nineteen sixty one, just four months after 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: he assumed the presidency, John F. Kennedy stood before a 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: joint session of Congress and said the following, I believe 6 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: before this decade is out of landing a man on 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No 9 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: single space project in this period will be more impressive 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: to mankind or more important for the long range exploration 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,840 Speaker 1: of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: to accomplish. Think about it. Less than three weeks after 13 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: launching the first American into space, a trip that lasted 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: only fifteen minutes, the President went before Congress and charged 15 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: the country with landing on the Moon before the end 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: of the decade, and why so that we could wallop 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: the rush. Recognizing the head stock obtained by the Soviets, 18 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: and recognizing the likelihood that they will exploit this lead 19 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: for some time to come in still more impressive successes, 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: we nevertheless or required to make new efforts on our own. 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: For a while, we cannot guarantee that we shall one 22 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: day be first. We can guarantee that any failure to 23 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: make this effort will make us lost. Kennedy is inspiring 24 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: and pragmatic. He wants America to go to the Moon, 25 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: but he recognizes that the colossal technology, infrastructure, hardware, and 26 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: workforce necessary to make it happen does not exist. America 27 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: would be starting from scratch, and it was going to 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: be expensive. Let it be clear that I am asking 29 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: the Congress and the country to accept a firm commitment 30 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: to a new course of action, a cost which will 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: lost for many years and carry very heavy costs. If 32 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: we ought to go only ah way or reduce our 33 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: sites in the face of difficulty, In my judgment, it 34 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: would be better not to go at all. Apollo would 35 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: be bigger than anything NASA had ever attempted, by several 36 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: orders of magnitude, requiring the most significant commitment of peacetime 37 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: resources and innovation the country had ever seen. There is 38 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: no sense in desiring that the United States take an 39 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: affirmative position in outer space unless we are prepared to 40 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: do the work and bear the burdens to make it successful. 41 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: Kennedy is down to brass tax now, and he's not 42 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: above baking. This decision demands a major national commitment of 43 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: scientific and technical manpower, materiel, and facilities, and the possibility 44 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: of their diversion from other important activities where they're already 45 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: thinly in spread. In bringing it Home, Kennedy reminds his 46 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,679 Speaker 1: audience of the stakes. Finally, if we are to win 47 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: the battle that is now going on around the world 48 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: between freedom and tyranny, now it is time to take 49 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: longer strides, Time for a great new American enterprise, time 50 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: for this nation to take a clearly leading role in 51 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key 52 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: to our future on Earth, freedom and tyranny. For most Americans, 53 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: at least in retrospect, Apollo was about science, technology, and exploration, 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: but not Kennedy. For the President, it was about stopping 55 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: communism before it swallowed the planet whole. The stakes were 56 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 1: literally saving the free world. But as we will learn 57 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: this hour, there were many more Americans who didn't give 58 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: a damn about either of those two motivations, and with 59 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: very good reason. It's July nineteen sixty nine, day three 60 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: of the Apollo eleven mission. This is Apollo control of 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: forty six hours twenty eight minutes around the lapse of 62 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: time a little more than a half hour remaining in 63 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: the crew sleep period. Members of the Green team of 64 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: flight controllers, headed up by Prime Flight Director Cliff charles Worth, 65 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: are coming into the control room at this time, and 66 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: that each console handover is taking place from the black watch. 67 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: Have you ever stopped to consider the gargantuan undertaking that 68 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: the Apollo project represented. Pulling off Kennedy's audacious vision required 69 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of companies, 70 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: and tens of billions of dollars on paper, There's no 71 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: way that Apollo should have worked. It should have been 72 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: too big, too unwieldy, too time consuming, and too expensive. 73 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: And yet, against all odds, in spite of tragic accidents, 74 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: political hatchet jobs, and public protests, the United States pulled 75 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 1: it off. But before we look into the army that 76 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: was required to get Apollo off the ground, let's listen 77 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: in as Bruce McCandless in Mission Control rouses our crew 78 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: at morning hands. You're a great day, pride night. Yeah, 79 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: we very quiet night down air. I've got the morning 80 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: news here if you're interested over Yeah, already copy and 81 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: comment already there uh Roder buzzes pointing out that if 82 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: it's too thirty in the afternoon in Houston, this can't 83 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: be called the morning news from St. Petersburg, Florida. Come 84 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: to the radio report from a Narrowagian explorers or hired 85 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,679 Speaker 1: Doll which in the crew of his p pirates boat 86 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: or well they'll end a break down Barbados and bite 87 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: damage from heavy seas. Thor hired All was a Norwegian 88 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: explorer who wanted to prove that ancient peoples were capable 89 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: of making epics, sea voyages and contacting far flung cultures. 90 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: He constructed a boat made from papyrus, just like the 91 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: ancient Egyptians did, and attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean. However, 92 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: the raw would sink before reaching its destination. Thankfully, the 93 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: entire crew was rescued and a year from now Thor 94 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: will build Raw too and successfully complete the journey from 95 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 1: Morocco to Barbados, a fitting terrestrial echo to Apollo Levin's 96 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: extraordinary stellar journey. And in Corby, England and Irish wind 97 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: John Coyle has won the World urried Gating Championship by 98 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: consuming twenty three bowls events, and not meal in a 99 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: ten minute time limits from a field of thirty five 100 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: other competitors over I like Dianna and Time. Pretty good 101 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: at that. He's, as you may have already guessed, Mission 102 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: Control is curating the news, choosing only stories designed to 103 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: bring a smile to the faces of three astronauts racing 104 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: far away from everything and everyone they love. But the 105 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: truth is all is not well back home. Spanning Apollo 106 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: eleven's nine day mission, the streets of York, Pennsylvania, will 107 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: become the site of a race war after a seventeen 108 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 1: year old African American boy is shot by a white 109 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: gang looking to stir up trouble. Soon, black and white 110 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: mobs clash violently across the city. The next day, three 111 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: police officers will be shot, and one, the two year 112 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: old rookie who's only been on the force for ten months, 113 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: will be killed. The mayor will declare a state of 114 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: emergency and flood the streets with state troopers to begin 115 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: restoring order, or so he thinks. Angry at the death 116 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: of one of their own, the city police officers will 117 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: begin telling white gangs they need to protect their homes 118 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: and shoot any blacks they come across. Local cops even 119 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: pass out ammunition. One of those bullets may have killed 120 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: a twenty seven year old black woman and mother of 121 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: two from South Carolina who is visiting her sister when 122 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: the violence begins consuming the city. She and her family 123 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: are returning from a fishing trip when barricaded streets forced 124 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: them to drive through a white neighborhood, where several men 125 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: opened fire in the car, hitting her in the chest 126 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: and killing her. Why don't I bring this up? As 127 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: the sun sets? In the nineteen sixties, race relations threatened 128 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: to tear this country apart, and the systemic suppression of 129 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: African Americans even intersects profoundly with the Apollo eleven mission. 130 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: As we will learn today, the country about to land 131 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: on the Moon seems incapable of solving its most fundamental 132 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: problems back home. As the political turmoil at home rages 133 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: on and our boys continue their trek toward the Moon, 134 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: Let's take a look at how NASA made the impossible possible. 135 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: The Apollo program dwarfs any other engineering project ever undertaken 136 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: by humanity. Previous ventures like the Manhattan Project and the 137 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: construction of the Panama Canal pale in comparison. I'm Bill 138 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: Berry and I'm the NASA chief historian. So over the 139 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: course of the nineteen sixties, the official numbers billion dollars 140 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixties money. That's a huge amount of money, 141 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: and four hunds of thousand people worked on the project, 142 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 1: and twenty thousand different U S companies across the unitsates 143 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: were subcontractors are in some way, shape or form. In 144 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one, the year Kennedy kicked Apollo off, NASA 145 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: spent about one million dollars on the program. Just five 146 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,559 Speaker 1: years later, it was spending roughly the same amount every 147 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: three hours. NASA slice of the federal budget at the 148 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: time was about five point five If the national budget 149 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: were a dollar, NASA was consuming more than a nickel. 150 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: Adjusted for two thousand and nineteen, the Apollo program costs 151 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty eight billion dollars. Only the Vietnam 152 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: War was more expensive. At the time of Kennedy's charge, 153 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: NASA was just eight thousand employees scattered around a handful 154 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: of small facilities, but Apolloscope made them instantly obsolete. NASA 155 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: needed a lot more people and a lot more space. 156 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: The first priority was a command center from which to 157 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,119 Speaker 1: run the entire program. It really need a much larger facility, 158 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: and the decisions made located in Houston. So that's the 159 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: birth of the Johnson Space Flight Center. At the time, 160 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: the facility was known as the Manned Space Fight Center. 161 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: This was to be the home of mission control and 162 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: space flight missions to the Moon and perhaps the planets 163 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: will be commanded from this control room of the Mission 164 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: Control Center at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, twenty two miles 165 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: southeast of Houston, Texas. It was built on six acres 166 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: of cattle grazing land donated by Rice University, the same 167 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: Rice University where Kennedy uttered these famous words, Great, here's 168 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: to go to the moon and this detained and do 169 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: the other thing, not because they are easy, but because 170 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: they are hard. Next up was a place to launch 171 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: the rockets from. People have been using the Cape Canaveral 172 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: Air Force Station down there on the coast of Florida. 173 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,719 Speaker 1: But they realized that for you, for quality're going to 174 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: need much bigger facility. So the Kennedy Space Center. It's 175 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,719 Speaker 1: not the Kennedy Space Center is built next to the 176 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: Cape Canaveral, a huge facility of its own, One of 177 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: dasa's major installations devoted to achieving the goals of the 178 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: nation's space programs is the John F. Kennedy Space Center 179 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: Launch Site, or the Apollo Saturn five. It would not 180 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: be named the Kennedy Space Center until after the President's death. 181 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: At this time, it is the Launch Operations Center. To 182 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: give you some context of just how much bigger and 183 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: more powerful the Saturn was going to be than anything 184 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: that came before it. The launch escape system that sat 185 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: on the very top of the Saturn five to yank 186 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: the command module free in an emergency was more powerful 187 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: than the entire Mercury Redstone that launched the first American 188 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: into outer space. The abort signaled figures separation of the 189 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: module from the launch vehicle. Simultaneously, the launch escape motor 190 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: and pitch control motor ignite, accelerating the command module away 191 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: from the launch vehicle. NASA also needed a place to 192 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: build the Saturn five. They decided to build a test 193 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: facility in the middle of the swamps on the south 194 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: coast Marshall Space Flight Center. Why in the middle of 195 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: a swamp, building and testing rockets tends to be well noisy, 196 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: So NASSI goes from being um sleepy eight thousand or 197 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: so of personal organization there ultimately small leg and grows 198 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,559 Speaker 1: over fourfold. By the mid sixties, you've got over thirty 199 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,319 Speaker 1: eight thousand employees working for NASA, and all these multiple facilities, 200 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: all brand spanking new that are all built all across 201 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: the South and the United States. As these various centers 202 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: were being built, NASA turned its attention to even more 203 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: fundamental problems. Exactly how is America going to get to 204 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: the Moon. The problem is really quite simple, find the 205 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: best path to get from point A two point B. 206 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: But of course this is a great over simplification. There 207 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: are three options. Direct descent, where you take a big rocket, 208 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: launch it to the Moon, the whole thing lands in 209 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: the Moon, and the whole thing goes back again. This 210 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,079 Speaker 1: is the model made popular by classic sci fi films 211 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: of the eighteen fifties, when the moon monsters, under the 212 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: direction of writting, ruthless Dictator of the Moon, scheme to 213 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: invade the Earth and have your rank un set up 214 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: ready to blast them. This time you must not fail. 215 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: And they decided, well, there's another alternative, where we could 216 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: build a spaceship in Earth orbit. We launched pieces of it, 217 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: so we don't have to build such a big rocket 218 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: on Earth. So that's Earth orbit rendevou Verni von Braun, 219 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: the x Nazi rocket scientists who designed the Saturn five, 220 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: preferred this option. A voyage around the Moon must be 221 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: made in two phases. A rocket ship taking off from 222 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: the surface. We'll use almost all the fuel that can 223 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,679 Speaker 1: carry just to attain a speed great enough to balance 224 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: the pool of gravity. However, if we can refuel the 225 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: ship in this orbit with fuel brought up by cargo 226 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: rocket chips, it can set out on the second phase, 227 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 1: the trip around the Moon and back. And there's this 228 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: other idea that they're called lunar orbit rendevout, where you 229 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: build a rocket, sent it to the Moon and it's 230 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: like a big cruise ship. It pulls into the harbor 231 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: and then the passengers get off on a smaller dinghy 232 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: and run into the shore to go to their visits 233 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: and then come back out again. The problem was known 234 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: at NASA liked this last idea well, almost no one. 235 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: John Hubalt was convinced that lunar orbit rendezvous was the 236 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: only way NASA would successfully meet Kennedy's vision. The idea 237 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: of using l O R lunar Orbert rendezvous as a 238 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: way to go into the Moon appealed to me tremendously. 239 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: I knew, however, that it would meet with much opposition. 240 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: People in fact, would probably think I was crazy. Who 241 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: about This is a really interesting character. He's was an 242 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: engineer at Langley Research Center where they were looking at 243 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: questions about orbital mechanics. Hubbolt sort of grabbed this idea. Mathematically, 244 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: this makes the most sense, and he basically championed that idea. 245 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: The reason known at NASA like who Bolt's option is 246 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: because it required the astronauts to dock their spacecraft two 247 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand miles away. Remember this is half 248 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: a decade before Project Gemini proved it was even possible 249 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: in Earth orbit. So this terrified NASA's engineers, and so 250 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: who Bolt was sidelined. He may not have been high 251 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: ranking or well connected, but he was tenacious, and so 252 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: he jumped the NASA chain of command. They really put 253 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: his career on the line by being a real pest 254 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: about it, you know, going over people's head, sending letters 255 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: to Dept Administrator NASA and other things that you know 256 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: could have gotten fired. Who Will argued that for direct 257 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: descent to work, they need a rocket even larger and 258 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: more expensive than the proposed SATURD five and Earth orbit 259 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: rendezvous required multiple launches. But he kept at it, and 260 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: eventually pounding away at it. You know, people realize, well, 261 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: you know, maybe that's winder with thing around the moon 262 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: isn't so bad, And look at the math on this, 263 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: we can actually do with missing one Saturn five launch, 264 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: you know it. Eventually it wins out, and hop Will 265 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: becomes sort of the hero in the story, largely because 266 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: he was smart enough to do it and brave enough 267 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: to take on the powers that be to push the idea. 268 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: The accomplishment of lunar orbit rendezvous is a vital portion 269 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: of the Apollo lunar landing missions. The next question was 270 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: what would these spacecraft look like and who would build them. 271 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: Getting a very good view of the work going on 272 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: in the come out on Service module tunnel preparation for 273 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: the dress people Uner module. But first let's check in 274 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: with Apollo eleven, currently one and seventy five thousand nautical 275 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: miles away from Earth, where the astronauts are preparing to 276 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: open up the lunar module for the very first time. 277 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: They're filming the whole thing and beaming it back to 278 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: Charlie Duke in mission control. We're really getting great a 279 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: drug remment coming back. Once removal of the drogue is completed, 280 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: they will have access to the lam hatch and be 281 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: able to go into the tunnel. The drogue is part 282 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: of the mechanism used to dock the two spacecraft to 283 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: enter the lunar module. Neil must first remove the drogue 284 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: as it blocks the narrow tunnel connecting the two ships. 285 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: Looked like it's pretty crowded in there with that grove 286 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: over alright, dv Cale will get in a way. One 287 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: guess who the guy making the jokes is, of course 288 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: as Michael Collins. If it sounds like I've been making 289 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: fun of Michael Collins, think again, in a very real way. 290 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: He is the most accessible of our crew. Neil and 291 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: Buzz are always so straight laced. Both were described in 292 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: their day as squares. Michael is much more well down 293 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: to earth bare. He didn't really have a hanging card there. 294 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: We can't really complain things like I had. They were 295 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 1: about to open the hand now, but we don't see 296 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: anything up there. Well, greas good, This is the first 297 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,439 Speaker 1: time that anyone other than the technicians who built her 298 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 1: has climbed inside the lemb During the Apollo mission, this vehicle, 299 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: the Lunar Module, will take two men and their scientific 300 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: instruments to the surface of the Moon. While there, it 301 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 1: will serve as command post and communications center, and when 302 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: the astronauts finished their exploration, it will take them back 303 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: to the orbiting command module for the return trip to Earth. 304 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: In late July of nineteen sixty two, NASA invited nearly 305 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: a dozen companies to bid on the Lunar Module design. 306 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: The winning concept came from the aircraft manufacturer, the Grumman Corporation. 307 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: These are the guys who built the F nine Panther 308 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: that Neil flew in Korea. Later, they designed the most 309 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,400 Speaker 1: beautiful American fighter jet to ever take to the sky, 310 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: the fourteen Tomcat. I'm standing on the floor of plant 311 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: number five at the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in Best Page, 312 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: New York. The Lunar Modules, or lambs for short, were designed, assembled, 313 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: and tested at Grumman's Long Island facility in New York. 314 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: Mike Lisa was a Grumman environmental test engineer. When I 315 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: went to the interview to Grummin. They said, James, you're 316 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 1: gonna be working on the LAMB. I go, Lamb, you're 317 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: kidding So now I said, oh my gosh, I was 318 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: through the day one. None of the engineers at Grumman 319 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: had ever built anything like the LAMB before. No one had. 320 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: The Lamb was for use on the Moon. It would 321 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: never taste Earth's atmosphere. It would live and die in 322 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: the vacuum of space. As such, unlike its gum drop 323 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: shaped sibling, the Command Module, the Limb did need to 324 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: be aerodynamic. Once you get two D fifty miles away, 325 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 1: there's no atmosphere it obviously, it doesn't have to be sleek, 326 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: doesn't have to look Because of that, it would never 327 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: be described as beautiful. Instead of smooth, sleek sides, it 328 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: was functional, bristling with sharp edges, antennas, weird bulges, and 329 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: clusters of thrusters. Appropriately enough, it looked like something alien. 330 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,160 Speaker 1: The thing has a face, eyes, nose, even a mouth. 331 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: It was a spider, it was. The Lamb evolved a lot. 332 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 1: First it was roughly capsule shaped. Still later it resembled 333 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: a helicopter cockpit with large curved windows. Then someone got 334 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,640 Speaker 1: out of calculator and added up how much it would weigh, 335 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: and that was the end of that. The lamb had 336 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: to be liked or else it would never get off 337 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: the moon. Grumman's engineers soon became obsessed with taking weight off. 338 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: The single massive window was ditched and in its place 339 00:19:55,440 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: two small triangular shaped windows were substituted. Glasses heavy. Five 340 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,679 Speaker 1: landing legs offered the best possible stability, but that was 341 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: one too many. Now it was only four. At one 342 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: point in time on the lemb they actually had seats, 343 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 1: and they said, now get these things out of here. 344 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: Grumman proposed having the astronauts climb out of the vehicle 345 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: by using a rope ladder, or even at one point 346 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: repelled down the side via a rope. Ultimately they compromised 347 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,120 Speaker 1: on an aluminum ladder. Throughout the different phases of its 348 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: design and construction, Grumman built full sized wooden mock ups 349 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: for the NASA personnel to tour, equipment to be test fitted, 350 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: and even space suited astronauts to try out. Buzz and 351 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 1: Leo had put it on the backpack, and what happened 352 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 1: was when they tried to get through the round opening, 353 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: it was beaten the heckhead of the backpack, so it 354 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: instantly was a redesign. I mean it was like, stop everything, 355 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: this thing has to become rec dangular. The limb has 356 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: two sections, the ascent stage from which the astronauts operated 357 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: the craft, and the decent stage, with its spider legs 358 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: and compartments for all of their equipment. This is the 359 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 1: bit that gets left on the Moon. The engine on 360 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: the decent stage is the most sophisticated ever designed. It's 361 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: powerful enough to get the lemb down to the lunar surface, 362 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:09,439 Speaker 1: but it can also allow the lemb to hover like 363 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 1: a helicopter while the astronauts choose a suitable landing spot. 364 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: All that gold foil wrapped around the descent stage is 365 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: milar insulation. It reflects hot sunlight away from the sensitive equipment. 366 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: Beneath the foil is the craft's metal hull. At some places, 367 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 1: it's the thickness of only three inches of kitchen aluminum foil, 368 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: but once pressurized, it was remarkably strong. Think about it 369 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: in terms of a soda can. After you've finished your soda. 370 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: It's fairly easy to pierce the side of its aluminum skin, 371 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: but it takes a lot more work to do, so 372 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: when the contents are under pressure, it's the same idea here. 373 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: Once the lemb was pressurized in the vacuum of space, 374 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: it was much stronger than how it was back in 375 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: Grumman's labs, where a misplaced foot or a fallen screw 376 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: driver could have easily punctured the hull. Never in history 377 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: had a flying machine gone into service without a comprehensive 378 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: test fight. But when it came to landing on the Moon, 379 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,120 Speaker 1: there was no other way to do it, which meant 380 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:03,880 Speaker 1: that Mike and his team had their work cut out 381 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,160 Speaker 1: for them. It was their job to stress test every 382 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: individual part that went into the lamb, not once, but 383 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: thousands of times. I need you to picture a huge speaker, 384 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: a regular ordinary speaker, except that the speaker is going 385 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: to be about fifteen ft in diameter. Mike's vibration machines 386 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: are basically speakers. They would mount the lamb on top 387 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: of these shakers to simulate the vibrations experience during takeoff 388 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 1: and all the other phases of the mission. It was 389 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,959 Speaker 1: shaking the lamb to the point where it was they 390 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,919 Speaker 1: would fall apart. I mean, we had actually introduced so 391 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 1: many g forces that we wouldnock things off and m 392 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,640 Speaker 1: just to see if we can break it. We had 393 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: to prove that the best thing was going to make 394 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: it to the bone and back to Earth in one piece. 395 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: On another test, they rotated the lamb upside down and 396 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: shook it to see if anything would come off, and well, 397 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: MD hold outcomes are nut a plane ordinary nut. It 398 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: hit the ground on and the Nasser inspector was there 399 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 1: and he pulled the plug on us. He stopped us 400 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: for an entire week, and all of those units had 401 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: to be inspected to a point where you wouldn't believe. 402 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: Mike and his colleagues were obsessed with ensuring that everything 403 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: they touched was perfect. Three folks life depending on this, 404 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: and he wanted to be flawless. The importance that would 405 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: leaned on everybody's mind was the safety of bringing these 406 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,200 Speaker 1: guys out and hitting them back. It wasn't an easy job. 407 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: We were twelve hours a day here, sixty five days. 408 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: He would never stopped. I remember taking a week off 409 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 1: of my own, remember that. Other than that, no vacations, no, no, nothing. 410 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: I couldn't wait to get to work. I knew this 411 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: was going to be a big thing in all life 412 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: I mean. To be a part of that history is 413 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: absolutely incredible. I really loved doing that work. Mike was 414 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: a new father when he watched the landing from the 415 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: living room of his house, the same house in fact, 416 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: where he lives today. I was sitting right here on 417 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: this look with my black night television, the little baby 418 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: upstairs crying, and uh. When I finally swear after they 419 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: hit the ground, I couldn't believe it. I tell you, 420 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: I had goose poems that you almost get a tear 421 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,679 Speaker 1: out of it. It was starting. It was incredible to 422 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: see all all were finally coming to fruition. It was great. 423 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: Today Mike volunteers his time at the Cradle of Aviation 424 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: Museum in Garden City as a docent, talking to people 425 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 1: about the lamb he helped build. Now that Neil and 426 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: Buzz have opened her up, let's take a look inside, 427 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: shall we. As you can see, there is not a 428 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: lot of space in here, just room enough for two 429 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: men to stand side by side. They each have a 430 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: window angled down towards the ground. In the front there 431 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,880 Speaker 1: you can see joysticks, altimeters, a bunch of knobs, switches 432 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,040 Speaker 1: and circuit breakers. The hatch to get out to the 433 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: Moon is below these consoles just here at their feet, 434 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: and that whole directly above your head. That's the hatch 435 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: connecting the lamb to the command module. The lunar module 436 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: trammed with instrumentation, communications, equipment, and propulsion, all needed for 437 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: the important job of jetting two men down to and 438 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: away from the surface of the Moon. In all, it 439 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: took an estimated nine thousand engineers and two point four 440 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: billion dollars to design and build the lunar module. That's 441 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,120 Speaker 1: billion with a B. There are many at this time 442 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 1: of history who felt that that money could have been 443 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 1: better spent. America was losing about fifty men every day 444 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: in Vietnam, some of the country's most inspiring leaders were 445 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: being felled by assassin's bullets. Campus protests and street riots 446 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: were breaking out across the country, and according to the 447 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,919 Speaker 1: US Census, of African Americans were living in poverty. In 448 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: an era of intense racial discrimination, African Americans found themselves 449 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: trapped between America's technological abilities and its social injustice. America, 450 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: it seemed, would rather spend hundreds of billions of dollars 451 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: on war and petty political one upmanship than actually improving 452 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: the lives of its citizens. The plight of African Americans 453 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:13,399 Speaker 1: at this time inspired Gil Scott Heron depend these words 454 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: in the song Whitey on the Moon. I can't pay 455 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: no doctor bills, but White he's on the moon. Ten 456 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: years from now, I'll be paying still while white is 457 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: on the moon. You know the man just off my 458 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: rent last night, because why it is on the moon. 459 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: No hot water, no toilets, no lights, but White he's 460 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: on the moon. Lelon, we haven't good to be to 461 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: the window there. It looks like the turns farrently coming 462 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: through there. We're back in the level. Kneel and Buzz 463 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: have the camera with them and they're showing the world 464 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 1: what it looks like inside. Now, let me tell you 465 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,479 Speaker 1: if you're looking the other way, Buzz turns the camera around, 466 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: shooting back into the command module. That's a great good 467 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: right there. That's Neil and mind better bigger line. Remember 468 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 1: when Mike Lisa mentioned that they'd yanked the lemb seats 469 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: to save on weight, Well, they swapped them out with 470 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: tethered restraints so that Neil and Buzz didn't float around 471 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: inside the spacecraft. Buzz decides to try them on early, 472 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: but without being in his bulky pressure suit, they don't 473 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: quite have the same effect. Restraints in here do a 474 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: pretty good job of pulling my bands down. We haven't 475 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: quite got that before the fifty million TV audience yet, careful, Buzz, 476 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: this is a family show having that th real good 477 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,720 Speaker 1: camera work, probably the most unusual provision of cameraman's ever 478 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: head hanging from a tunnel. One thing in a picture 479 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: up down leven. You got a pretty big audience. It's 480 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,680 Speaker 1: live in the US, it's going live to Japan, Western 481 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: Europe and much of South America. Appreciate the great skill. 482 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: Hello there, poor Michael, he's feeling left out. Meanwhile, Buzz 483 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 1: is fantasizing about pushing off from one end of the 484 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: lamb and sailing all the way through to the other 485 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: side of the command module, a travert from the bottom 486 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:12,440 Speaker 1: of them to the bulk of the command Model's interesting 487 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,439 Speaker 1: to not apply to putting off from one and founding 488 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 1: on into the other vehicle all the way through the tunnel. 489 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: But comperiance, if Colin is gonna go in and look around, 490 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,919 Speaker 1: we're willing to let it go. Come up with the 491 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: price of the ticket again. But to advice invocate the 492 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: man's off. This twitches well, buzzing. Neil are busy in 493 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: the lem. Let's check out Michael's domain. The command module, 494 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 1: after all, this is where the lions share of our 495 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: podcast takes place. Cockpit, crew, quarters, command center. When America's 496 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: three astronauts travel to the Moon, they'll use the Apollo 497 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: Command module for all these things. And of the three 498 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: modules that make up the spacecraft, this is the only 499 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: one that will come back. The commanded service modules were 500 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: built by North American Aviation. This is the company that 501 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: built the P fifty one Mustang, one of the most 502 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: extraordinary planes to come out of World War Two, Buzzes 503 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: F eight six Saber, and Niel's X fifteen rocket plane. 504 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: So yeah, these guys know a thing or two about 505 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: building extraordinary machines. Chuck Lowry was working for North American 506 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: Aviation in Columbus, Ohio, designing airplanes when he was given 507 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: the opportunity to begin working on a new program that 508 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: NASA was calling Apollo. I was invited to move from Columbus, 509 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:39,479 Speaker 1: Ohio to California to be in charge of the landing system. 510 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: The parachute jumped at the chance to do that. Not 511 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: many people in the early sixties believed a moon landing 512 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: was even possible. Chuck remembers being at church one night 513 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: shortly before they made the move to California. There was 514 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: a leader speaking to a group of people, and he 515 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: said something like a crazy government. Now they say we're 516 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: going to go to the moon. Go, I don't put 517 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: people at How many of you really believe that we're 518 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: gonna put people on the moon? Of course, I raised 519 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 1: my hand, and I looked around, and my hand was 520 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: the only one up. And I looked over my wife 521 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: sitting next to me and heard him was not a 522 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: So at that point, not many people in the population 523 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: really believe we were going to do that. I did. 524 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: Chuck and his colleagues put in a lot of ours. 525 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: We had so many heart attacks, so many divorces among 526 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: the you know, the workers, and it was a hard job, 527 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: but it was a thrilling job, and I don't regret 528 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 1: a minute of it. All Right, listener, why don't you 529 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: sit here in the center seat. This is Michael seat. 530 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: It's going to give you the best view. Almost every 531 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: inch of the interior wall space is filled with switches, dials, 532 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: and gauges. Some are similar to those found in modern 533 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: jet planes, but others are new designed for the require 534 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: moments of spaceflight. That's seven foot wide, three foot tall, 535 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: crescent shaped panel directly in front of you is divided 536 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: into three sections, one for each of the astronauts. On 537 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: the left is the panel for Neil, the mission commander. 538 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: He has the primary flight controls, which govern things like 539 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 1: the command modules, altitude, velocity, and attitude. The center panel 540 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: is the Command Module Pilots. Michael controls the guidance and 541 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:28,280 Speaker 1: navigation computer, propulsion, the environmental system, and thruster controls. On 542 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: the right is the Lunar Module pilots panel. This isn't 543 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: Buzzes ship, but since he's going to be in that 544 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: seat for roughly eight of the nine days, he gets 545 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: to cover electricity, battery, fuel cells, and calms. In all, 546 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: there are five hundred and fifty six switches in the 547 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: command module and twenty four separate instruments, So yeah, this 548 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:50,160 Speaker 1: is one complicated spacecraft. Then when you want to move around, 549 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: you can stow a couch and you can go down below. 550 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: There's a lower equipment by which, of course a lot 551 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: of storage lockers. There are six equipment bays and all 552 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: they house everything from guidance and navigation equipment, medical supplies, 553 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: survival gear of food, locker, drinking water, a waste management system, 554 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: close tools, cameras, fire stingishers, and a dozen other mission 555 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: critical supplies. Now, if you look up, you see the tunnels, 556 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: which is what you used to go up and exit 557 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: the command module and go into the lunar module. The 558 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 1: command module has five small windows, two at eye level 559 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: for buzz and Neil, two forward facing ones that are 560 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 1: used primarily for rendezvous and docking, and a fifth on 561 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: the hatch directly above you. You see those little black 562 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: squares all over the walls. That's velcro in zero G 563 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: where things tend to float away. It's really nice to 564 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: have something to stick things to. Everything from your checklists too, 565 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: small tools, and even your food pouches. If all of 566 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 1: this sounds cramped, it is. The Command module is just 567 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: over ten and a half feet in height with a 568 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: diameter of just under thirteen feet, barely over two hundred 569 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,239 Speaker 1: square feet in volume. The mid seat used by the 570 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 1: pilot of the Command Module can be folded back to 571 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: provide working space and give the crew a chance to stretch. Luckily, 572 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: the couches the guys sit in can not only be 573 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: reconfigured for sleep, but the center one, the one you're in, 574 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: can be completely broken down to allow them to stretch out, 575 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,960 Speaker 1: as well as access the telescope and the sextant. Despite 576 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 1: all of the technological wizardry aboard the command Module, some 577 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: of the astronauts equipment is relatively unchanged. In two hundred years, 578 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: mariners aboard eighteenth century sailing ships use sextants to chart 579 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: their course using the stars. The astronauts on Apollo eleven 580 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,400 Speaker 1: us theirs to do exactly the same thing. In eighteen 581 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: sixty five, the French novelist Jules Verne, one of the 582 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: founding fathers of science fiction, wrote From Earth to the Moon. 583 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,560 Speaker 1: In it, a group of post Civil War engineers build 584 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: a giant cannon in well where else, Florida. With that cannon, 585 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: they shoot a giant bullet shaped projectile, carrying three people 586 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: to the moon helperically. Awesome is that the engineer's in 587 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: vern story named the Canon columbiad Neil Buzzing Michael have 588 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: dubbed this command module Columbia in its honor. The first 589 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: time I had butterflies in my stomach because of apprehension 590 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,840 Speaker 1: about systems working. Was Apollo seven because that was the 591 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: first man flight. A lot riding on that flight. The 592 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,920 Speaker 1: whole program was writing and lives We're writing on that flight, 593 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: and by the time we got to Apollo eleven um 594 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: it was pretty rude tinae. But that sort of confidence 595 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: comes only after years of success and hard work. Chuck 596 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: would go on to work on every Apollo mission, and 597 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,279 Speaker 1: even today is a consultant on the Orion spacecraft, which 598 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: will be taking astronauts back to the Moon in a 599 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: couple of years. I'm immensely proud in the fact that 600 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: I worked on Apollo from the first to the last, 601 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,400 Speaker 1: the success of it, what it really meant to this nation, 602 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: what it meant to the world, And the further I 603 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 1: go in life, the more product I can live in 604 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: all The total cost for developing and building Apollo's command 605 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: and service modules was three point eight billion dollars. That 606 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 1: is a lot of money. Between the lunar module and 607 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:14,640 Speaker 1: the command module, taxpayers shelled out around six point two 608 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: billion dollars. That's sixty two and a half billion in 609 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: today's dollars, and it is worth asking was it worth it? 610 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 1: Many people today bemoan the lack of public support for 611 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: space exploration. They point back to the halcyon days of 612 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: the Apollo program, when everyone was rooting for NASA and 613 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,200 Speaker 1: support for the moon landing was universal, except those days 614 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: never existed. Sure, fifty years later, the Apollo program is 615 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:43,440 Speaker 1: regarded as an unqualified success, but that's not how it 616 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:46,520 Speaker 1: was viewed at the time. In fact, the majority of 617 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 1: scientists felt that NASA was moving with reckless speed and 618 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,480 Speaker 1: that the money and minds going towards space meant that 619 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:56,800 Speaker 1: other critical scientific pursuits were being sidelined, and the public agreed. 620 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,839 Speaker 1: NASA's Bill Berry and polls throughout the nights sixties when 621 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 1: people ask the question is it a priority to you 622 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: it should we be be spending money on sending humans to 623 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:09,840 Speaker 1: the moon? That pole question never got above support except 624 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 1: for one week in the nineteen sixties and hours the 625 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: week we landed on the Moon. Um So generally speaking, 626 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:19,240 Speaker 1: a majority you know, of Americans, uh, you know, we're 627 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: not in favor of a major moon landing program. Back 628 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 1: on Apollo eleven, exactly two days and nine hours from 629 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: their launch, the guys are wrapping up their television broadcast. 630 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: The consensus is that the Earth appears much smaller today. 631 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: It appears now that we have a view of Earth 632 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,960 Speaker 1: out the window land. If that's not the Earth, we're 633 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 1: in trouble and differing after day and to day, and 634 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: that large and image every continuing. If I get a 635 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:51,520 Speaker 1: big Thankley Paller here and now hundred seventy deeven thousand 636 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: miles out over, and I'd like to say I fellow 637 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:02,759 Speaker 1: got from Cator that Farragut State Park in Idaho in 638 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 1: the night called gamboree there this week and up all 639 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,960 Speaker 1: eleven like to send the best ways. That was Neil 640 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,480 Speaker 1: other than Apollo fifteens, Jim Irwin, every single one of 641 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: the Apollo moonwalkers were boy Scouts, and Neil and Charlie Duke, 642 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,880 Speaker 1: the two people chatting here, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. 643 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,960 Speaker 1: And we're going to turn our V monitor off our 644 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: short bit while we have some other work to do. 645 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:30,640 Speaker 1: A follow eleven find off right here, Levin, thank you 646 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 1: very much that with one of the greatest goals we've 647 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 1: ever seen, was here appreciated over in all. Their TV 648 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,560 Speaker 1: transmission lasted just over an hour and a half, and 649 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,640 Speaker 1: in that time they've traveled more than two thousand miles. 650 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: Now it's time to get back to work, transferring equipment 651 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,440 Speaker 1: they're gonna need on the Moon from the command module 652 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 1: to the lunar module. As Neil and Buzz work, astronaut 653 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,239 Speaker 1: Owen Garrett has commandeered the Capcom microphone to let Neil 654 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: know that Mission Control is enjoying a little snack levin 655 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: Youth and a little informaking to you their CD are. 656 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:03,719 Speaker 1: We've all taken a momentary brief respite from our work 657 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:07,480 Speaker 1: here to have a biden special Moon cheese that has 658 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:11,840 Speaker 1: understanded been sent to it directly from Wappa, Connectica. Wow, 659 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:18,320 Speaker 1: your own hometown. However, we can't pronounce the eather. I 660 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:21,080 Speaker 1: think you'll enjoy that. Make up a fine branded cheese 661 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 1: roger there, and I'll police up the grammar for the 662 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:28,879 Speaker 1: next chef. And a little less than three hours will 663 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,080 Speaker 1: pass a milestone of sorts as the spacecraft passes into 664 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: the lunar sphere of influence. At that point, the spacecraft 665 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,360 Speaker 1: will be under the dominant influence of the Moon's gravity. 666 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: Neil and Buzz finished their work and seal at the limb. 667 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:46,520 Speaker 1: The mood inside the spacecraft is casual and stress free. 668 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 1: The late workload is allowing the astronauts to relax, and 669 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:59,359 Speaker 1: they begin entertaining themselves with the music. The intermittent music 670 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:03,200 Speaker 1: that we're getting is apparently coming from the spacecraft. Eleven 671 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: hit than we wanted his own horn. Yeah, we did. 672 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 1: Had a little music there that was good. You can 673 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,520 Speaker 1: keep it coming down lever. Mission control wishes the crew 674 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:19,799 Speaker 1: a good night. They assume they won't be hearing from 675 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,399 Speaker 1: the astronauts again until the morning, and for ten minutes 676 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:27,560 Speaker 1: or so the radio falls silent, and then go ahead 677 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: and eleven over. You have any idea where the for 678 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:35,120 Speaker 1: a year for refector sem I. Neil is referring to 679 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,520 Speaker 1: the third stage of the Saturn five that, as you'll 680 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,600 Speaker 1: remember from our last episode, was nudged a safe distance 681 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:42,800 Speaker 1: away from the crew and is now following them to 682 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 1: the Moon. As they were settling in for the night, 683 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,320 Speaker 1: Neil saw a flashing light out one of the windows. 684 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,640 Speaker 1: Are you a phoe? Neil suspects it may be the 685 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:55,279 Speaker 1: third stage of the Saturn rocket. Paul eleven Houston be 686 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:58,480 Speaker 1: at four Bees, about six thousand nautical miles from you 687 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:04,080 Speaker 1: now over, Okay, so it's not the third stage given 688 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 1: the distance between the two, it's highly unlikely the crew 689 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:09,239 Speaker 1: could make out what's left of the Saturn. So just 690 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,560 Speaker 1: what is this UFO? Well, to this day, the object 691 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,880 Speaker 1: they saw has never been identified. However, before the conspiracy 692 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,600 Speaker 1: theorists and our audience get too excited, it was almost 693 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,040 Speaker 1: certainly one of the four panels that protected the lunar 694 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,360 Speaker 1: module during launch, and we're jettisoned yesterday right before its extraction. 695 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,200 Speaker 1: Even though those panels don't have their own propulsion source, 696 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:29,480 Speaker 1: they were already whizzing to the Moon at more than 697 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,719 Speaker 1: twenty four thousand miles an hour and are going to 698 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 1: continue to do so until an equal or opposite force 699 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,479 Speaker 1: acts upon them. Yeah, we got to the Moon using 700 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:39,920 Speaker 1: the discoveries of a guy who wore a wig and 701 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:48,080 Speaker 1: died in seventeen Thanks Isaac Newton. On July, the day 702 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 1: before Apaul eleven lifted off, a group of five protesters 703 00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:54,359 Speaker 1: set up camp outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center. 704 00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:58,120 Speaker 1: They were led by Reverend Ralph Abernathy. This is the 705 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: man who created Martin Luther King Jr's body in his 706 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:03,480 Speaker 1: arms as the civil rights icon died on a motel 707 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:07,640 Speaker 1: balcony in Memphis, Tennessee NASA's Bill Berry so a great extent. 708 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:12,000 Speaker 1: After Reverend King was assassinated, Abernathy sort of assumed the 709 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:16,160 Speaker 1: mantle of leadership of the civil rights movement. Abanathi was 710 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,560 Speaker 1: very smart about the training issues that he was concerned about, 711 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:20,759 Speaker 1: which was the fact that there are a lot of 712 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:22,960 Speaker 1: people living in poverty in the United States at the time. 713 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,120 Speaker 1: Abernathy and his protesters were hoping to bring attention to 714 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 1: their cause by going to the one place guaranteed to 715 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,200 Speaker 1: have the majority of the nation's news cameras. NASA administrator 716 00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:34,839 Speaker 1: Tom Paine said, Okay, we're gonna ignore these guys. I'm 717 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,839 Speaker 1: gonna go out in with Reverdath Abernathy, and so there 718 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,800 Speaker 1: was a meeting. Um and Paine agreed that, you know, 719 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,280 Speaker 1: there were significant problems in America and that they should 720 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:46,920 Speaker 1: be addressed. Surrounded by protesters singing we shall overcome and 721 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:51,000 Speaker 1: holding signs reading hungry Kids Can't eat Moon rocks, Abernathy 722 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:54,680 Speaker 1: and Payne spoke for about twenty minutes. Abernathy asserted that 723 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,319 Speaker 1: money for space fight was a misplaced priority. We may 724 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:03,000 Speaker 1: go on from this day into Mars, into Jupiter, and 725 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:08,600 Speaker 1: even to the heavens beyond. But as long as racism, poverty, 726 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,839 Speaker 1: and hunger and war prevail on the Earth, we as 727 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:18,880 Speaker 1: a civilized nation have failed. Pain agreed. Everybody also pointed 728 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,840 Speaker 1: out that from his perspective that you know, I'm not 729 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,960 Speaker 1: going to the moon wasn't going to solve those problems, 730 00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:25,640 Speaker 1: and in fact he actually said, you know, if me 731 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:27,680 Speaker 1: not turning to switch the launch to our to go 732 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:29,560 Speaker 1: to the moon could solve these problems, I would do that. 733 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:33,799 Speaker 1: You would cancel amission. But it's not. Pain told Abernathy 734 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,759 Speaker 1: he didn't know what NASA could do in the short 735 00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:38,759 Speaker 1: term to combat poverty, but that the Moonshot was an 736 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,960 Speaker 1: example of what human beings were capable of achieving if 737 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,560 Speaker 1: they threw themselves behind a worthwhile cause. He wanted the 738 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:48,120 Speaker 1: civil rights leader to see Apollo as just the thing 739 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 1: to spur the nation to tackling other giant problems and 740 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:54,680 Speaker 1: to use its success as a yardstick to measure what 741 00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:57,880 Speaker 1: was possible. And you very smartly, asked the Reverend Aberna, 742 00:42:57,920 --> 00:42:59,040 Speaker 1: I think if he had prayed for the ct to 743 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:03,160 Speaker 1: the astronauts, and then he invited at and a significant 744 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,000 Speaker 1: part of the group of people that were there for 745 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:07,760 Speaker 1: the march to come into the v I P Visitors 746 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 1: site to watch the launch the next day, and it 747 00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,160 Speaker 1: was a really, I think telling incident that that tells 748 00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 1: us a lot about sort of where the space program 749 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,200 Speaker 1: sat and popular imagination at the time, and how much 750 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:21,120 Speaker 1: strong leaders on both sides could make an impact on 751 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:26,920 Speaker 1: the conversation on the eve of man's noblest venture. I 752 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,600 Speaker 1: have profoundly moved by the nation's achievements in space and 753 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:33,600 Speaker 1: the heroism of the three men embarking for the Moon. 754 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,800 Speaker 1: But what we can do for space and exploration, we 755 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,640 Speaker 1: demand that we do for starving people. The hard truth, 756 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:43,880 Speaker 1: of course, is that we didn't use Apollo as an 757 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:47,320 Speaker 1: inspiration to eradicate poverty in America. We didn't go to 758 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,080 Speaker 1: the Moon because scientists were demanding it. We didn't go 759 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,759 Speaker 1: to the Moon because the public was demanding it. We 760 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:55,439 Speaker 1: went to the Moon because the President pushed the program through, 761 00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:59,000 Speaker 1: believing that a successful space race would earn the United 762 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:02,920 Speaker 1: States a significant victory in the Cold War. The most 763 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:06,480 Speaker 1: audacious thing humans had ever attempted was also something only 764 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:10,239 Speaker 1: the planet's richest nation could afford to try. Yes, it 765 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:14,400 Speaker 1: was deeply controversial, but it also worked and directly paved 766 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:16,759 Speaker 1: the way for the technological age in which we now 767 00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:20,359 Speaker 1: find ourselves. There may come a time when America will 768 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,839 Speaker 1: face a similar dilemma. Our planet is currently staring down 769 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:28,960 Speaker 1: unprecedented challenges in climate change, dwindling resources, terrorism, and a 770 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,920 Speaker 1: daunting refugee crisis. Some believe the solutions to these and 771 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:35,960 Speaker 1: other problems can be found amongst the stars. The next 772 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 1: Apollo mission may not be about winning a Cold war, 773 00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:41,920 Speaker 1: but rather saving the entirety of the human race. And 774 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:44,320 Speaker 1: when that time comes, that mission may be met with 775 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:48,120 Speaker 1: the same controversy and skepticism. And why not. Our world 776 00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 1: has never looked more like nineteen sixty nine, plagued by war, 777 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,880 Speaker 1: racial discrimination, and political scandals. The same complaints made in 778 00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:59,440 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine are being made today. It doesn't look 779 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:02,680 Speaker 1: like we've learned much in the last fifty years. It's 780 00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:06,920 Speaker 1: hard to care about space when grinding poverty, state sponsored racism, 781 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,759 Speaker 1: violence against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, and turning away 782 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,680 Speaker 1: refugees fleeing war and oppression dominates the news every night. 783 00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:18,360 Speaker 1: NASA administrator Thomas Paine was right. The moon shot was 784 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:22,000 Speaker 1: an example of what humans are capable of. Achieving, but 785 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:24,440 Speaker 1: so is creating a sea change for every citizen on 786 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:27,520 Speaker 1: this planet. Our choice is not one or the other, 787 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,840 Speaker 1: it must be both. We must be bold enough and 788 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:34,160 Speaker 1: brave enough to transform life on Earth and the stars. 789 00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:38,760 Speaker 1: This is Apollo Control at sixty one thirty nine minutes 790 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:43,160 Speaker 1: coming up. In less than ten seconds now, we'll be 791 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:47,879 Speaker 1: crossing into the sphere of influence of the Moon as 792 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:53,560 Speaker 1: the Moon's gravitational force becomes the dominant effect on the 793 00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:58,680 Speaker 1: spacecraft trajectory. At that point, which occurred a few seconds ago, 794 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:03,080 Speaker 1: the spacecraft was at a distance of one eighty six thousand, 795 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:08,240 Speaker 1: four hundred seven nautical miles from Earth and thirty three thousand, 796 00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:12,080 Speaker 1: eight hundred two nautical miles from the Moon. Day three 797 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:15,879 Speaker 1: is over. Day four, July nine begins with our next 798 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:18,759 Speaker 1: episode as we spin back to tell the story of 799 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:24,279 Speaker 1: three stars, not celestial stars, but reality stars, the astronauts 800 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,640 Speaker 1: and their families who lived beneath the withering media spotlight 801 00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:29,439 Speaker 1: on Earth as they trained to go to the Moon. 802 00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:32,760 Speaker 1: A moon vet on day four loose large and Apollo 803 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:35,760 Speaker 1: eleven's windows as our crew prepares to undertake a series 804 00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:50,680 Speaker 1: of dangerous maneuvers to get into orbit. This podcast is 805 00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,840 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio and trade Craft Studios. 806 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:59,120 Speaker 1: Executive producers Ashe Seroia and Scott Bernstein in association with 807 00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:03,759 Speaker 1: High five Content, and an executive producer Andrew Jacobs. Amazing 808 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:07,719 Speaker 1: research and production assistants by associate producers Brian show Saw 809 00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:12,920 Speaker 1: and Natalie Robomed. Our incredible editor is Bill Lance. Original 810 00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:16,839 Speaker 1: music by Henry ben Wah thanks to this episode's voice 811 00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:21,040 Speaker 1: actor Tim Gordon. The experts who contributed to this episode 812 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:25,200 Speaker 1: were NASA historian Bill Berry, Grummin's Mike Lisa and North 813 00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:30,400 Speaker 1: Americans Chuck Lowry. Licensing rights and clearances by Deborah Correa. 814 00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:33,600 Speaker 1: This is a brand new podcast and we're so excited 815 00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:35,680 Speaker 1: to be sharing it with you. Help us spread it 816 00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:38,880 Speaker 1: far and wide, tell your friends, leave ratings and reviews, 817 00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:42,120 Speaker 1: and chat about it on social media. Our hashtag is 818 00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,719 Speaker 1: nine D I J. We would love to hear what 819 00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:47,680 Speaker 1: you think. New episodes come out every week, so we 820 00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:51,800 Speaker 1: sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Brandon Phibbs. 821 00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:54,720 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you next episode.