Apollo 11 and frustration with beloved programs
Hi,
I started to reply to the thread about why SG(x) seemed to be ignored. With the canceling of NASA manned spacecraft by Obama, What will become of NASA and the Federal sponsorship of manned space exploration.
I recently posted the following on my neighborhood forum site.
It is something from real life that parallels the SG(x) frustration we all feel and has also been felt by Star Trek and Doctor Who fans as well.
I'm not sure where to post this thread. Feel free to redirect it.
Doug vV
my recent post about NASA
=============
Hi,
Dad worked for Lowe Engineers as a vice president - engineering here in Atlanta. A fellow co-worker at Lowe knew a fellow who had a townhouse near Titusville, FL. Dad and Mom were always bird watchers and had us in Florida to see the launch of Gemini 6 and many unmanned launches. As a side note, Gemini 6 had troubles on the pad Gemini 7 launched first and the press touted the first two manned spacecraft in orbit at one time (when Gemini 6 launched a few days later) as the flight of 76.
Back to Apollo 11, we went down and stayed in the Titusville townhouse (the traffic jam was predicted to be almost gridlock - almost unknown anywhere in the US in 1969. We got out to the beach on one of the Banana River inlets (the Banana River was actually the series waterways between the Ocean front islands and the mainland one branch is the Intercoastal Waterway). I think it was the causeway to the main entrance to Cape Kennedy.
Knowing space would be at a premium, we got out to claim a beach spot early (about when the sun broke the horizon. The inlet gave a beautiful view of of the Apollo-Saturn V on the launch pad. It was early morning. We had a picnic hamper for sandwiches and snacks in the station wagon. The portable radio kept us informed. we played in the sand (I was 13 and my sister was 10). The mosquitoes got bad and soon some bi-planes were flying over the beaches spraying for the little buggers. With the cloud of "smoke" trailing the bi-plane and the popular song of the time being Snoopy and the Red Baron, we dubbed the plane Snoopy. Somewhere I have Super 8 movies of the day. As 9:32 AM came, Apollo 11 launched in a brilliant torch flame and smoke. It was an indescribable experience.
We then had a one week vacation in Florida (pre-Disney World) and drove down to Key West and back.
When I graduated from Georgia Tech in September 1980, I got a job in Houston Texas. I was laid off in 1982 and I returned to Atlanta to see about moving back. I saw my Dad for about a week just a week before he died. He knew I had landed a job with Ford Aerospace working in Mission Control Houston/Clear Lake City.
I worked for Ford Aerospace in Mission Control during Space Shuttle missions 5 and 6. Complications with Mom and money caused me to leave Houston and return to Atlanta in the spring of 1983. I had no idea I would work in Mission Control when I saw Apollo 11 launch in 1969 and it was like closing a loop when I got hired on there.
I hope you enjoy this.
======================
Hi,
When Apollo 17 (which I saw launch) ended the Apollo lunar space program in December 1972, the Space Transportation System was envisioned as the next step into space.
One part of the STS was the Space Shuttle. Was successful.
The second part of the system was a US space station. Canceled.
The third part was to be a LEO (Low Earth Orbit) to Lunar surface transport. Canceled.
The forth part was a manned Moonbase. The Moonbase was to be the core of a government/private manufacturing system. One of the stimuli for Moonbase was a planned mars spacecraft manufacturing effort. Canceled.
I fully expected (in the early 1970s) that commercial private citizen travel to the Moon would be available by 2000.
Considering that the New World was known about about 1000 by the Norsemen, in the 1400s starting with the incorrectly but accepted falsehood that Columbus discovered Ohio (VBG), and Saint Augustine, FL being founded in 1565 - I hope we as a species (Human) do not wait until 2069 to push forth.
Looked at another way, the first transcontinental railroad was completed in May 1869. The first manned moon landing in July 1969. Does this mean we will make the first Lunar colony in 2069 and the first manned exploration in 2169?
Sad Sad Sad
Doug vV
I started to reply to the thread about why SG(x) seemed to be ignored. With the canceling of NASA manned spacecraft by Obama, What will become of NASA and the Federal sponsorship of manned space exploration.
I recently posted the following on my neighborhood forum site.
It is something from real life that parallels the SG(x) frustration we all feel and has also been felt by Star Trek and Doctor Who fans as well.
I'm not sure where to post this thread. Feel free to redirect it.
Doug vV
my recent post about NASA
=============
Hi,
Dad worked for Lowe Engineers as a vice president - engineering here in Atlanta. A fellow co-worker at Lowe knew a fellow who had a townhouse near Titusville, FL. Dad and Mom were always bird watchers and had us in Florida to see the launch of Gemini 6 and many unmanned launches. As a side note, Gemini 6 had troubles on the pad Gemini 7 launched first and the press touted the first two manned spacecraft in orbit at one time (when Gemini 6 launched a few days later) as the flight of 76.
Back to Apollo 11, we went down and stayed in the Titusville townhouse (the traffic jam was predicted to be almost gridlock - almost unknown anywhere in the US in 1969. We got out to the beach on one of the Banana River inlets (the Banana River was actually the series waterways between the Ocean front islands and the mainland one branch is the Intercoastal Waterway). I think it was the causeway to the main entrance to Cape Kennedy.
Knowing space would be at a premium, we got out to claim a beach spot early (about when the sun broke the horizon. The inlet gave a beautiful view of of the Apollo-Saturn V on the launch pad. It was early morning. We had a picnic hamper for sandwiches and snacks in the station wagon. The portable radio kept us informed. we played in the sand (I was 13 and my sister was 10). The mosquitoes got bad and soon some bi-planes were flying over the beaches spraying for the little buggers. With the cloud of "smoke" trailing the bi-plane and the popular song of the time being Snoopy and the Red Baron, we dubbed the plane Snoopy. Somewhere I have Super 8 movies of the day. As 9:32 AM came, Apollo 11 launched in a brilliant torch flame and smoke. It was an indescribable experience.
We then had a one week vacation in Florida (pre-Disney World) and drove down to Key West and back.
When I graduated from Georgia Tech in September 1980, I got a job in Houston Texas. I was laid off in 1982 and I returned to Atlanta to see about moving back. I saw my Dad for about a week just a week before he died. He knew I had landed a job with Ford Aerospace working in Mission Control Houston/Clear Lake City.
I worked for Ford Aerospace in Mission Control during Space Shuttle missions 5 and 6. Complications with Mom and money caused me to leave Houston and return to Atlanta in the spring of 1983. I had no idea I would work in Mission Control when I saw Apollo 11 launch in 1969 and it was like closing a loop when I got hired on there.
I hope you enjoy this.
======================
Hi,
When Apollo 17 (which I saw launch) ended the Apollo lunar space program in December 1972, the Space Transportation System was envisioned as the next step into space.
One part of the STS was the Space Shuttle. Was successful.
The second part of the system was a US space station. Canceled.
The third part was to be a LEO (Low Earth Orbit) to Lunar surface transport. Canceled.
The forth part was a manned Moonbase. The Moonbase was to be the core of a government/private manufacturing system. One of the stimuli for Moonbase was a planned mars spacecraft manufacturing effort. Canceled.
I fully expected (in the early 1970s) that commercial private citizen travel to the Moon would be available by 2000.
Considering that the New World was known about about 1000 by the Norsemen, in the 1400s starting with the incorrectly but accepted falsehood that Columbus discovered Ohio (VBG), and Saint Augustine, FL being founded in 1565 - I hope we as a species (Human) do not wait until 2069 to push forth.
Looked at another way, the first transcontinental railroad was completed in May 1869. The first manned moon landing in July 1969. Does this mean we will make the first Lunar colony in 2069 and the first manned exploration in 2169?
Sad Sad Sad
Doug vV
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