Counting Down to Apollo

One American's account of watching humanity reach the Moon

Tag: recovery

Apollo 14 Home — Eight Men on the Moon
Apollo 14 February 9, 1971

Apollo 14 Home — Eight Men on the Moon

Apollo 14 splashed down today. Eight men have now walked on the Moon. After Apollo 13, I needed this. After the near-disaster that shouldn't have been, the mission that recovered and continued, this feels like proof that the program is intact. Eight men. I keep counting them.
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They’re Home
Apollo 13 April 17, 1970

They’re Home

Apollo 13 splashed down in the Pacific today. Three parachutes. Three men alive. Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise are home. When the parachutes deployed and the capsule hit the water, Betty cried. I wasn't far behind. Six days of this. They made it.
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Apollo 1 June 1, 1968

Eighteen Months Later — I Think They’re Ready

Eighteen months since the fire. The spacecraft has been redesigned — new quick-opening hatch, new materials, 1,341 engineering changes. The Saturn V has been tested twice. Apollo 7 will carry men for the first time in a few months. I find myself thinking about Grissom again. I think he would…
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