Apollo 8 is the first manned flight around the moon. The Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968 at 6:31 a.m. from Cape Kennedy. Besides being the first to orbit the moon, NASA had a bigger objective. They wanted to test the equipment, trajectory, and operations. This was being tested to simplify the system and procedures for future launches. Also, Apollo 8 demonstrated translunar injection. Three astronauts were sent up, Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr., and William Andres. Within the 6 days…
John Noble Wilford is an American science author, journalist, reporter and correspondent. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in journalism. Few years later, he earned a master’s degree in political science from Syracuse University. He began his career as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal then he moved to The New York Times to become a science reporter, national news editor assistant, and director of science news. John has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize…
The 1969 Apollo 11 mission took a combination of determination and luck to accomplish. It was filled with many twists and turns yet it still came to be a profound mark in history. The following texts are related to the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans on the moon. “Man Takes First Steps on the Moon” from The Times of London reports the day of the event. The speech “In Event of Moon Disaster” by William Safire is a speech that would have been given if the mission wouldn’t have…
It was a dark and stormy night on earth but on Beta-Meow 3 it was a bright and sunny afternoon as is usual for all the planets orbiting the white giant star Beta-Meow, and on this afternoon a secret military meeting was taking place on Catnip, Beta-Meow 3’s largest moon. “I say we should build the base here at the equator where the trees will provide cover.” Said captain whiskers of the Catonian military. “Are you crazy, our ships would never make it through the dense forest!” Interjected…
Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. The purpose of Apollo 13 was to land on the moon and return safely. Granted Apollo 13 did not land on the moon due to an oxygen tank exploding, they returned the astronauts home safely, which should be the biggest goal or accomplishment. Apollo 13 was a success after it returned in one piece. A failure is the lack of success. To fully succeed the crew needed to touch down on the moon, and return home. After having technical difficulties,…
The Apollo Space Program was very important to many Americans and NASA because it dealt with sending astronauts into space and exploring the unknown solar system. That is why on April 11th, 1970, NASA launched three astronauts into space. This launch is known as Apollo 13, or the 13th launch out of Earth’s solar system. NASA sent three men, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert, into space on the Apollo 13 mission. Initially, Lovell, the commander, and Haise, the lunar module pilot, were…
In a distant land, where sandstorms ravage the area, and there is nothing to eat but potatoes and caffeine pills, the Astronaut Mark Watney goes through many morechallanges than this, in this fantastic book, The Martian. Mark Watney was as a man of many talents. He was a good survivor, and can survive many would-be fatal disasters. This planet, Mars, uncolonized, and only partially discovered, makes Mark face many challenges. In the end, the reader will be surprised that Mark is still even alive…
What was the Apollo 13? Apollo 13 was a successful failure because it was a mission to the moon with many challenges along the way as well as surviving the free fall to safely back to Earth. To begin with, the launch to the moon was just like any other take off. It stretched back the skin on their faces until it seemed their bones might shatter. The mission was to get samples of sandy dirt and grab 4 billion year old rocks from Earth. Suddenly a loud bang got their attention. The spacecraft…
Donald Slayton had developed a love for curiosity and exploring at a very young age. The National Aviation Hall of Fame states that when Donald was a young child, he would always explore the world around him; so much that his mother tied him to a clothesline to keep him from exploring too much. But his love for exploring never stopped there. When Donald was in high school, his love for flying sparked. And since then on, he was known for his love of flying. His motto, "Keep 'em flying" was even…
In April of 1959 Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. was selected to be one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury (NASA). According to the NASA website, the astronauts immediately began training for their mission at Langley (NASA). Their training “included a "little of everything" ranging from a graduate-level course in introductory space science to simulator training and scuba-diving” (NASA). While all the astronauts were given different jobs, Cooper’s was to deal with the Redstone rocket,…