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Supporting Apollo

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The Last of NASA's Original Pilot Astronauts

Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books ((SPACEE))

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Abstract

By the end of 1966, NASA’s latest group of astronauts were settling into their new life and career in Houston. Balancing their busy training schedule with finding a new home, settling the children in school and, when they were able, dealing with routine domestic duties, kept their diaries full. On top of all that, the clock was ticking down towards the end of the decade and President Kennedy’s deadline for landing Americans on the Moon.

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, September 12, 1962.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Slayton wrote metaphorically here, as seats had been removed from earlier designs of the LM to save weight. Referring to a pilot’s understanding of an aircraft flight deck, he meant the left-hand flight position.

  2. 2.

    This changed in 1970, when rookie Group 5 astronauts were assigned to the CMP seat from Apollo 13 through Apollo 17, and for both Skylab and ASTP.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Astronautical Historian, Astro Info Service Ltd, Halesowen, West Midlands, UK

    David J. Shayler F.B.I.S

  2. Bangor, New South Wales, Australia

    Colin Burgess

Authors
  1. David J. Shayler F.B.I.S
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  2. Colin Burgess
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Shayler, D.J., Burgess, C. (2017). Supporting Apollo. In: The Last of NASA's Original Pilot Astronauts . Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51014-9_5

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