Reflections
September 1, 1973
It started with a radio in 1961. A man named Gagarin. Coffee going cold. Twelve years later: twelve men on the Moon. I've been paying attention the whole time. I still am. I keep looking up. I keep thinking: next. What's next. Where do we go from here? I hope…
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June 22, 1973
Harold had a minor heart attack last Tuesday. He's going to be fine, the doctors say. He asked me from his hospital bed if anything important happened with the space program while he was in.
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April 22, 1973
I've been keeping this notebook since 1957. The Apollo program is over. Skylab is still going. I'm going to write one more time before I put it away for a while.
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Reflections
April 1, 1973
I went through my clipping folder last weekend. Seventeen shoeboxes. Twelve years of newspaper articles, radio transcripts, magazine features, mission summaries. Betty watched me spread them across the living room floor and said, "I told you so." She was right. I have a problem. It's a wonderful problem to have.
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January 20, 1971
It's been almost two months since Apollo 13 came home and two months until Apollo 14 will (hopefully) land. This is the between time.
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Apollo 11
July 25, 1969
Apollo 11 splashed down safely on Thursday. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins are home. But last night I walked outside and looked up at the Moon, and it was different. It looked different. Not because anything had changed about the Moon. Because something had changed about me. About us. It's not…
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July 5, 1969
Harold came over last Saturday and asked me a question I didn't expect. He asked if I thought they'd really make it back.
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May 28, 1969
My cousin Marge visited last week and asked why I care so much about the space program. I tried to explain. This is what I said, more or less.
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December 5, 1966
Christmas came and went and I found myself explaining the lunar module to Betty's brother, who had never heard of it and wanted to know if it was like a flying saucer.
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