Date: 4-4-01
EXPLORATIONS #1946 - PROJECT APOLLO - PART 1
By MARILYN RICE CHRISTIANOANNCR:
EXPLORATIONS -- A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH BY THE VOICE OF
AMERICA.
THE NINETEEN-SIXTIES WERE EXCITING TIMES IN SPACE EXPLORATION.
TODAY, KAY GALLANT AND HARRY MONROE LOOK BACK AT THE FIRST
FLIGHTS OF THE APOLLO PROGRAM DESIGNED TO LAND HUMANS ON THE
MOON.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
THE DECISION TO GO TO THE MOON WAS MADE IN MAY,
NINETEEN-SIXTY-ONE. PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY SET THE GOAL IN A
SPEECH TO CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. HE SAID HE BELIEVED
THE UNITED STATES, BEFORE THE END OF THE NINETEEN-SIXTIES, SHOULD
LAND A MAN ON THE MOON AND RETURN HIM SAFELY TO EARTH.
HE SAID NO OTHER EFFORT WOULD BE SO IMPORTANT TO THE EXPLORATION
OF SPACE. AND HE SAID NO OTHER EFFORT WOULD BE SO DIFFICULT OR
COST SO MUCH TO DO.
VOICE TWO:
AT THE TIME PRESIDENT KENNEDY SPOKE, THE SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM
SEEMED FAR AHEAD. THE SOVIET UNION PUT THE FIRST SATELLITE INTO
EARTH ORBIT. A SOVIET SPACECRAFT WAS THE FIRST TO LAND
INSTRUMENTS ON THE MOON. AND A SOVIET COSMONAUT, YURI GAGARIN,
WAS THE FIRST MAN IN SPACE.
THE UNITED STATES HAD JUST SENT AN ASTRONAUT OF ITS OWN INTO
SPACE FOR THE FIRST TIME. ALAN SHEPARD MADE ONLY A
FIFTEEN-MINUTE FLIGHT IN THE LITTLE ONE-MAN MERCURY SPACECRAFT.
BUT HIS FLIGHT GAVE AMERICANS THE FEELING THAT THE UNITED STATES
COULD PULL AHEAD OF THE SOVIET UNION IN THE SPACE RACE.
THERE WAS GREAT PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S MOON
LANDING GOAL. AND CONGRESS WAS READY TO SPEND THE THOUSANDS OF
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT A MOON LANDING PROGRAM WOULD COST.
VOICE ONE:
MUCH HAPPENED IN THE MONTHS AFTER AMERICA DECIDED TO GO TO THE
MOON.
NEW SPACE FLIGHT CENTERS WERE BUILT. DESIGNS FOR LAUNCH ROCKETS
AND SPACECRAFT WERE AGREED ON. AND A NEW SPACEFLIGHT PROGRAM --
PROJECT GEMINI -- WAS BEGUN. FLIGHTS IN THE TWO-MAN GEMINI
SPACECRAFT TESTED THE MEN, EQUIPMENT AND METHODS TO BE USED IN
THE APOLLO PROGRAM TO THE MOON.
GEMINI LET ASTRONAUTS LEARN ABOUT THE DANGERS OF RADIATION AND
THE EFFECTS OF BEING WEIGHTLESS DURING LONG FLIGHTS. ASTRONAUTS
LEARNED TO MOVE THEIR SPACECRAFT INTO DIFFERENT ORBITS AND TO
JOIN WITH OTHER SPACECRAFT.
VOICE TWO:
WHILE THE GEMINI PROGRAM PREPARED ASTRONAUTS FOR APOLLO FLIGHTS,
NASA ENGINEERS WERE DESIGNING AND BUILDING THE APOLLO SPACECRAFT.
IT WAS REALLY TWO SPACECRAFT. ONE WAS A CONE- SHAPED COMMAND
MODULE. THE ASTRONAUTS WOULD RIDE TO THE MOON IN THE COMMAND
MODULE. AND THEY WOULD RETURN HOME IN IT.
THE SECOND CRAFT WAS A MOON LANDING VEHICLE. TWO ASTRONAUTS
WOULD RIDE IN IT FROM THE ORBITING COMMAND MODULE TO THE MOON'S
SURFACE. LATER, THE LANDING VEHICLE WOULD CARRY THEM BACK TO THE
COMMAND MODULE FOR THE RETURN TRIP TO EARTH.
VOICE ONE:
ENGINEERS ALSO WERE WORKING ON A HUGE NEW ROCKET FOR APOLLO. IT
NEEDED MUCH MORE POWER THAN THE ROCKETS USED TO LAUNCH THE
ONE-MAN MERCURY AND THE TWO-MAN GEMINI FLIGHTS. THE APOLLO
ROCKET WAS CALLED SATURN.
TWO SATURN ROCKET SYSTEMS WERE BUILT. ONE WAS THE SATURN
ONE-BEE. IT DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO REACH THE MOON. BUT IT
COULD LAUNCH APOLLO SPACECRAFT ON TEST FLIGHTS AROUND THE EARTH.
THE OTHER WAS THE SATURN FIVE. IT WOULD BE THE ONE TO LAUNCH
ASTRONAUTS TO THE MOON.
SATURN ONE-BEE ROCKETS LAUNCHED SIX UNMANNED APOLLO SPACECRAFT.
THE TEST FLIGHTS SHOWED THAT ALL THE ROCKET ENGINES WORKED
SUCCESSFULLY. THEY ALSO SHOWED THAT THE APOLLO SPACECRAFT COULD
SURVIVE THE LAUNCH AND COULD RE-ENTER EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE SAFELY.
VOICE TWO:
BY THE END OF NINETEEN-SIXTY-SIX, NASA OFFICIALS CONSIDERED THE
APOLLO SPACECRAFT READY FOR TEST FLIGHTS BY ASTRONAUTS. THREE
ASTRONAUTS WERE NAMED FOR THE FIRST MANNED APOLLO TEST FLIGHT.
VIRGIL GRISSOM, EDWARD WHITE AND ROGER CHAFFEE.
FOUR WEEKS BEFORE THE FLIGHT, THE THREE MEN WERE IN THE COMMAND
MODULE AT CAPE KENNEDY, FLORIDA. THEY WERE TESTING EQUIPMENT FOR
THE FLIGHT.
SUDDENLY, FIRE BROKE OUT IN THE SPACECRAFT. WHEN RESCUERS GOT
THE DOOR OPEN, THEY FOUND THE FLAMES HAD KILLED THE THREE
ASTRONAUTS. GRISSOM, WHITE AND CHAFFEE WERE THE FIRST AMERICANS
TO DIE IN THE SPACE PROGRAM.
VOICE ONE:
ENGINEERS REDESIGNED AND REBUILT THE APOLLO COMMAND MODULE. THEY
DESIGNED A NEW DOOR THAT COULD BE OPENED MORE QUICKLY. THEY
IMPROVED THE ELECTRICAL WIRING. AND THEY USED ONLY MATERIALS
THAT WOULD NOT BURN EASILY.
BY NOVEMBER NINETEEN-SIXTY-SEVEN, THE MOON LAUNCH ROCKET, SATURN
FIVE, WAS READY FOR A TEST FLIGHT. IT THUNDERED INTO SPACE
PERFECTLY, PUSHING AN UNMANNED APOLLO SPACECRAFT MORE THAN
EIGHTEEN-THOUSAND KILOMETERS UP INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
VOICE TWO:
THE HUGE SATURN ROCKET, AS TALL AS A THIRTY-SIX FLOOR BUILDING,
WAS THE HEAVIEST THING EVER TO LEAVE EARTH. IT WEIGHED MORE THAN
TWO-MILLION SEVEN-HUNDRED-THOUSAND KILOGRAMS. THE NOISE OF ITS
ROCKETS WAS ONE OF THE LOUDEST SOUNDS EVER MADE BY HUMANS.
AT THE END OF THE TEST FLIGHT, THE SPEED OF THE APOLLO SPACECRAFT
WAS INCREASED TO FORTY-THOUSAND KILOMETERS AN HOUR. THAT WAS THE
SPEED OF A SPACECRAFT RETURNING FROM THE MOON. THE SPACECRAFT
RE-ENTERED THE ATMOSPHERE WITHOUT DAMAGE.
APOLLO FLIGHTS FIVE AND SIX TESTED THE MOON LANDING MODULE AND
THE SATURN FIVE ROCKET.
VOICE ONE:
ASTRONAUTS FIRST FLEW IN THE APOLLO SPACECRAFT IN OCTOBER,
NINETEEN-SIXTY-EIGHT. APOLLO SEVEN ASTRONAUTS WALTER SCHIRRA,
WALTER CUNNINGHAM AND DONN EISELE SPENT ELEVEN DAYS ORBITING THE
EARTH. THEY TESTED THE SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS. AND THEY BROADCAST,
FOR THE FIRST TIME, LIVE TELEVISION PICTURES OF MEN IN ORBIT.
EVERYTHING WORKED PERFECTLY.
VOICE TWO:
THE SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT OF APOLLO SEVEN LED NASA OFFICIALS TO SEND
THE NEXT FLIGHT, APOLLO EIGHT, TO THE MOON. THE LAUNCH WAS EARLY
ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER TWENTY-FIRST, NINETEEN-SIXTY-EIGHT.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WERE WATCHING ON TELEVISION.
ASTRONAUTS FRANK BORMAN, JAMES LOVELL AND WILLIAM ANDERS WERE IN
THE SPACECRAFT AT THE TOP OF THE SATURN FIVE ROCKET. NASA
OFFICIALS COUNTED DOWN THE SECONDS: FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE.
THE MIGHTY ENGINES FIRED. SLOWLY THE GIANT ROCKET LIFTED OFF THE
EARTH.
VOICE ONE:
THREE HOURS LATER, NASA OFFICIALS TOLD THE CREW THAT EVERYTHING
WAS "OKAY" FOR WHAT THEY CALLED "T-L-I" OR "TRANS-LUNAR
INJECTION." THIS MEANT THE APOLLO EIGHT ASTRONAUTS COULD FIRE
THE ROCKET THAT WOULD SEND THEM FROM EARTH ORBIT TOWARD THE MOON.
LESS THAN THREE DAYS LATER, APOLLO EIGHT WAS ORBITING THE MOON.
THE AMERICAN SPACECRAFT WAS JUST ONE-HUNDRED-TEN KILOMETERS FROM
ITS SURFACE.
ON DECEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH, THE ASTRONAUTS MADE A TELEVISION
BROADCAST TO EARTH. THEY DESCRIBED THE MOON'S SURFACE AS A
STRANGE GREY, LONELY PLACE. AND, AS THEY TALKED, PEOPLE ON EARTH
COULD SEE PICTURES OF THE MOON ON THEIR TELEVISION SETS.
APOLLO EIGHT RETURNED TO EARTH WITHOUT PROBLEMS. IT LANDED IN
THE PACIFIC OCEAN NEAR A WAITING SHIP.
VOICE TWO:
APOLLO EIGHT SHOWED THAT HUMANS COULD TRAVEL TO THE MOON AND
RETURN SAFELY. THE NEXT STEP WAS TO TEST THE LUNAR LANDING
CRAFT. THAT WAS THE JOB OF THE ASTRONAUTS OF APOLLO NINE. JAMES
MCDIVITT, DAVID SCOTT AND RUSSELL SCHWEICKART. THEY SPENT TEN
DAYS IN EARTH ORBIT DURING MARCH, NINETEEN-SIXTY-NINE.
DURING THE FLIGHT, THEY SEPARATED THE LUNAR LANDER FROM THE
COMMAND MODULE AND FLEW IT FOR EIGHT HOURS. THEY TESTED ALL ITS
SYSTEMS. THEN, THEY JOINED THE TWO SPACECRAFT TOGETHER AGAIN,
JUST AS ASTRONAUTS WOULD DO AFTER A MOON LANDING.
ENGINEERS DECIDED THAT AFTER APOLLO NINE, ONE MORE TEST FLIGHT
WAS NEEDED. THEY WANTED TO TEST THE LANDING MODULE NEAR THE
MOON. SO ASTRONAUTS TOM STAFFORD, JOHN YOUNG AND EUGENE CERNAN
DID THAT DURING THE FLIGHT OF APOLLO TEN.
VOICE ONE:
THEY REACHED THE MOON IN MAY, NINETEEN-SIXTY-NINE. ASTRONAUTS
STAFFORD AND CERNAN ENTERED THE LANDING CRAFT AND SEPARATED IT
FROM THE COMMAND SHIP.
STAFFORD AND CERNAN FLEW THE LANDER DOWN TO ONLY THIRTEEN
KILOMETERS FROM THE MOON. THEY DESCRIBED THE MOON DURING A RADIO
AND TELEVISION BROADCAST. "IT IS LIKE WET CLAY," THEY SAID.
"LIKE A DRY RIVER BED IN NEW MEXICO OR ARIZONA. IT IS A
BEAUTIFUL SIGHT."
ON MAY TWENTY-THIRD, THE LANDER REJOINED THE COMMAND MODULE
ONE-HUNDRED KILOMETERS ABOVE THE MOON. APOLLO TEN STARTED FOR
HOME. THE FINAL TESTING WAS DONE. APOLLO WAS READY TO LAND ON
THE MOON.
THAT WILL BE OUR STORY NEXT WEEK.
(THEME)
ANNCR:
THIS SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY MARILYN RICE
CHRISTIANO. YOUR NARRATORS WERE KAY GALLANT AND HARRY MONROE.
I'M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH. LISTEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIME TO
EXPLORATIONS ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA AS WE CONTINUE THE STORY OF
THE APOLLO MOON LANDING PROGRAM.
Source: www.voa.gov/special/