MovieChat Forums > From the Earth to the Moon (1998) Discussion > Burn!

Burn!

posted 9 years ago by EsmeCullen79
7 replies | jump to latest

No. Not Apollo 1

Ep 3 We have cleared the tower:

Wally; in earth time Deke, you'd be surprised how fast everything goes up there

Kick a man who's already down Wally'

[–] pjmcgill142 9 years ago

Staying ahead of the aircraft...
but yes, the scene was cruel. Bet it never happened.

Walt Cunningham in his (the second best) autobiography lamented how the mission's workload was minimised by some commanders to ensure a 100% success. Or if not minimised, 'front loaded' with little or nothing to do in the final hours of a mission.

This was raised by some in relation to Wally's Gemini 6a. I think Tom wanted a few more days in orbit and more work, but Wally wasn't having any of that. 'Let's get the rendezvous done and get back down...' seemed to be his attitude. Can't fault him, but still...

[–] tad-32 9 years ago

I got the impression, correct or incorrect, that the entire Apollo 7 crew was blackballed after that mission. As I recall there was a lot of complaining during the mission by the crew, and mission control's patience was running thin. I think you can even hear it in the recorded transmissions. Did they not ever fly again?

[–] pjmcgill142 9 years ago

Schirra was retiring. He was pretty certain there would be no more flights in his future. Eisele was pretty distracted with his marriage/divorce/new wife issues. From some sources it seems he wasn't the hardest worker on the Apollo 10 back-up crew...

Walt Cunningham was working hard on Skylab, but from his recollection, Pete Conrad and Al Bean walked in after their flight and pushed him aside. If Dick Gordon wasn't so keen to make a landing, he might have been in the mix too. Conrad tried to convince him Apollo wasn't going to have enough flights for him to command his own crew, and should move onto Skylab to have a better chance for another flight. Gordon took a chance, but missed a landing by 'that much'. There were quite a few high ups in his corner trying to get his crew onto Apollo 17...

And then there was Kraft's role in the whole mess. I'd have to re-read his book, but I think he had more than a little involvement in Cunningham's NASA career and lack of another flight. Schirra did give the mission controllers a bit of a hard time. Cunningham says he tried to play the 'peacemaker', but it seems that didn't help him. The whole crew got tarred.

The selection and interaction of the crews is (in my opinion) a most fascinating subject.

[–] tad-32 9 years ago

You should see the documentary "The Last Man on the Moon" if you haven't. It's making the rounds in art house cinemas. Cernan was pretty objective about the whole Apollo 17 affair, more or less saying that he didn't deserve it, and that it probably should have gone to Dick Gordon. He also talks about his friendship with Roger Chaffee. Roger Chaffee's wife, Martha, makes an appearance and even after all these years, it sill moves her to tears. It was hard to watch without tearing up myself. I was also rather taken by the fact that he appears quite disappointed with how manned spaceflight has gone since his day, I guess he didn't expect to be the last man on the moon for so bloody long.

[–] pjmcgill142 9 years ago

You should see the documentary "The Last Man on the Moon"

I'll look for it. Thanks for the tip.

Cernan was pretty objective about the whole Apollo 17 affair...

I suppose it's easy to feel that way some 40 odd years later. Surely the best option would have been to exchange Cernan's crew for Gordon's, but I can't remember him suggesting that!

Cernan was pretty lucky, and I'm sure he would admit that, too. He had a good and influential mentor in Stafford. And he was lucky Mike Collins declined Deke's offer of back up commander to Apollo 14. That would have put an end to his hopes for a command then and there. He was offered LMP on 16, but knocked it back. That took some balls, I'm sure. Deke must have thought there was something weird going on; first Collins knocks back a plumb assignment and then Cernan declines a chance to walk on the moon... Are these guys crazy??

And then there was Jim McDivitt's last effort to stop Cernan when the crew was announced. McDivitt didn't think much of ol' Gene at all, and resigned in protest.

But all in all, 17 was a fine mission and completed all of its objectives. You can't do much better than that.

[–] tad-32 9 years ago

But all in all, 17 was a fine mission and completed all of its objectives. You can't do much better than that.

Oh ya, I especially loved Cernan's statement before he left the moon for good, it was full of hope. "As we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."

[–] pjmcgill142 9 years ago

I thought you were going to say 'Let's get this muther out of here!'

I remember hearing that 17 would be the last mission to the moon for some time. I was disappointed, but thought it might be 5-10 years...
Nearly 44 years later...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YIJQ1jgEI