SavannahMann
Platinum Member
- Nov 16, 2016
- 14,540
- 6,818
Everyone assumes that Armstrong and his crew were destined to be the first, and that isn’t exactly true, or not at all. Before we could land on the moon, a lot of things had to go right. For example, Rusty Schweickart famously got sick his first day in orbit. This meant he could not test the life support backpack, as it would be too dangerous to seal him in a space suit where vomiting would kill him. Without that test, they could not detach the Lunar Module, and thus the LM tests in Earth Orbit would not go forward.
But Rusty got better the next day, and the tests went forward. If that had not happened, then Apollo 10, instead of testing the LM and approach procedures around Lunar Orbit, would have been testing the LM in Earth Orbit, because we could not go forward without a successful phased test system. Then Neil and Buzz would have tested the LM in Lunar Orbit, but not landed. The first men on the moon would have been Pete Conrad and Al Bean.
It is a mistake to imagine the Astronauts as anything but Patriots. They took dangerous routes to even be considered. Test Pilots, Fighter Pilots when plane design was not nearly as sophisticated as today. Love of Country and Love of flying saw them through.
Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, said in more than one interview that he told his buddies from the Navy that he felt guilty because he didn’t fly in Vietnam. He admitted it was a bad war. We were in it for the wrong reasons, but this patriotic man, not really an different than any of the other Astronauts, felt guilty because he wasn’t doing his part, sharing the danger with his fellow pilots, for “his war” because it was in his time. Those same buddies told him that Gene was doing something way more important, giving the nation something to be proud of, and letting all the pilots stand a little taller.
Some of these Astronauts were practically larger than life in dedication and devotion. Armstrong was no different, and just happened to be the commander of the first mission to land. But it took the work of Apollo 7, 8, 9, and 10, to successfully complete their objectives before he ever had a chance. To give you an idea what it means. The first objectives were called the “A” missions. Apollo 7 was the “C” mission. Any mistakes, or failures to achieve the required tests and objectives would mean a C-2, C-3, and so on.
The “G” mission, or landing on the moon, was not a “Go” until the successful completion of the “F” mission of Apollo 10. Armstrong could well have commanded “F-2” if there had been a problem. Oh, the final missions, the one Gene Cernan commanded, was the “J” missions.
But Rusty got better the next day, and the tests went forward. If that had not happened, then Apollo 10, instead of testing the LM and approach procedures around Lunar Orbit, would have been testing the LM in Earth Orbit, because we could not go forward without a successful phased test system. Then Neil and Buzz would have tested the LM in Lunar Orbit, but not landed. The first men on the moon would have been Pete Conrad and Al Bean.
It is a mistake to imagine the Astronauts as anything but Patriots. They took dangerous routes to even be considered. Test Pilots, Fighter Pilots when plane design was not nearly as sophisticated as today. Love of Country and Love of flying saw them through.
Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, said in more than one interview that he told his buddies from the Navy that he felt guilty because he didn’t fly in Vietnam. He admitted it was a bad war. We were in it for the wrong reasons, but this patriotic man, not really an different than any of the other Astronauts, felt guilty because he wasn’t doing his part, sharing the danger with his fellow pilots, for “his war” because it was in his time. Those same buddies told him that Gene was doing something way more important, giving the nation something to be proud of, and letting all the pilots stand a little taller.
Some of these Astronauts were practically larger than life in dedication and devotion. Armstrong was no different, and just happened to be the commander of the first mission to land. But it took the work of Apollo 7, 8, 9, and 10, to successfully complete their objectives before he ever had a chance. To give you an idea what it means. The first objectives were called the “A” missions. Apollo 7 was the “C” mission. Any mistakes, or failures to achieve the required tests and objectives would mean a C-2, C-3, and so on.
The “G” mission, or landing on the moon, was not a “Go” until the successful completion of the “F” mission of Apollo 10. Armstrong could well have commanded “F-2” if there had been a problem. Oh, the final missions, the one Gene Cernan commanded, was the “J” missions.
