"Houston, We've Got a Problem."

These are the worst words you can hear from the commander of a space capsule. More importantly, these are the worst words that commander will ever have to utter. The cold, harsh reality of space takes over at a time like that. You realize, possibly for the first time, that in spite of the team on the ground; essentially; you’re alone. Everybody else gets to go home for dinner, but not you.

Thursday was the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13. If you, or your children, have never seen one of these blast-offs before- it’s worth watching for that alone. But the real meat of the story is told using clips of both the ground crew, and the astronauts themselves, as they rack their brains for a solution to the problem, which is carefully explained in the video. That problem occurred in the early hours of April 14^th when an oxygen tank ruptured.

Ron Howard did an exceptional job with Tom Hanks in chronicling the Apollo 13 flight and it’s near disaster. But nothing can compete with the actual events, as evidenced in this short film from NASA, and available on you tube. Only some duct tape and a ballpoint pen saved the day for the crew. The ground support team worked long and hard to devise the “fix” that would allow the crew of Apollo 13 to return to Earth safely.

For several days the world watched and waited as the Apollo capsule got closer and closer to its scheduled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.  Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert may not have made it to the Moon as planned, but they achieved something far greater in their victory over technology gone wrong almost 200,000 miles from the nearest repair facility. That they did so with an improvised solution, under such arduous conditions, made the feat all the greater. We had already been to the Moon and back. But this was a real “cliffhanger”, as the whole world watched and waited for their safe return.

"We Were There" Edited by Robert Fox

This is a perfect book for summer reading. It is a diverse collection of some of the best, and most famous, of eyewitness accounts from the 20th Century. Comprised, as it is, of a variety of historical events, some related, some not, allows the reader to pick the book up, or put it down, at will. You can start anywhere you want to in this book and still not disrupt the flavor.

I dove in on the accounts of the famous Christmas Eve Truce during the First World War. And I got a surprise - there were two such Christmas Eves, one in 1914 and again in 1915. These are eyewitness accountings of the earliest days of the war, when many of the soldiers did not want to be there. Fraternization with the enemy was forbidden, but when the British saw the lights from the candles on the German Christmas trees, all rules went by the wayside. The result was that the two armies, who only hours before had been trying hard to kill one another, gathered in "no man's land" for an impromptu celebration of a common holiday. The Germans provided the beer, the English brought the football.

Equally of interest to me was the account of Harold Bride, the wireless operator aboard the HMS Titanic the night she hit an iceberg and sank, with the loss of over 1,700 lives. Though I have read it before, and even own a copy of it, has never diminished the awe which this piece inspires in me.

The world of science is also represented here, with accounts from the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, as well as Madame Curie and her discovery of radium, which would rock the field of medical science for decades to come.

Social Revolution was very much in the air in the years leading up to the First World War, and that subject is covered with accounts of the pre-war protests which shook England at the time. I was blissfully unaware of just how many people did not want to go to war for the "glory" of the empire. Whole families were involved in this endeavor, and many were jailed for their beliefs.

The birth of the Soviet Union, and the fall of Tsar Nicholas, which would come to color the entire 20th century, is a primer in the rise and fall of Communism. The effect that the Soviet Union had upon the world, for better or worse, cannot be discounted as it continues to color the events of today.

Women's Suffrage is given it's due, as women in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, struggled to gain equality under the law. One woman, Emily Wilding Davison, actually died for the cause when she ran on to the track during the Epsom Derby in 1913. Hoping to disrupt the race just as the King's horse was due to fly by, she was struck and killed by the horse.

The book chronicles the 20th century from it's opening days until the dawn of the 21st century. A perfect example is Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance and the gripping account of her misadventure in the early days of Artic exploration.

The high flying days of the 1920's, when prosperity seemed to be on a never ending upswing, is explored through the stories of the people who first rose, and then fell, on the roller coaster ride of economics. The parallels of this era with our own current financial woes, is a blueprint of history repeating itself in a never ending cycle.

The bombing of Dresden towards the end of the Second World War, and the affect it had on Kurt Vonnegut and his future writings, notably "Slaughterhouse 5", is gripping. It actually makes me want to re-read that book.

The world of entertainment is given some space here as well, as this was the century which ushered in mass communications such as radio and television. The power that entertainment, and entertainers, would come to hold over public opinion, and it's roots, are examined through the words of those who lived it.

Through the Depression and the resultant Second World War and beyond, this book is a pleasure to pick up and just jump right in. The "Sources and Acknowledgements" section is a treasure trove of things to be read in the future.

History is a living thing, and contains lessons to be learned. You just have to pay attention, lest we make the same mistakes over and over again.

Moon Landing - 1969

42 years ago today and I still rember the thrill of watching it. It was a Sunday and the Monday papers in New York, even the normally staid New York Times, all ran the date line as Moonday, July 20th, 1969.

"1969 - The Year Everything Changed" by Rob Kirkpatrick

This book is a chronological review of the year 1969. With so much having been written about 1968, sometimes 1969 gets lost in the shuffle. I have always considered 1969 to be the year that the "Woodstock Nation" died. The era of peace and love sort of ended at Altamont Speedway in California that December when the Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels to be the "security" for the concert. A crowd of over 500,000 people allowed themselves to be intimidated by less than a couple of hundred bikers. The fact that someone was murdered in front of the stage, while the Rolling Stones kept playing, underscores the myriad of problems which plagued our society throughout the 60's and would spill over into the 70's. Some might say that the seeds for some of todays problems were planted back then.

The year itself was just as exciting as 1968, but in a different sort of way. While 1968 was a year of great hope, 1969 was a year when the "hippie" movement clearly became commercial. Capitilizing on the sexual revolution, "O! Calcutta" became the number 1 show on Broadway. "I Am Curious (Yellow)" was considered a landmark movie.

In California Charles Manson was able to use the mind expanding properties of LSD to control a band of followers, directing them to murder for the dubious purpose of inciting a race war. San Francisco was reeling under the threat of the "Zodiac" killer, while Lt. William Calley was charged for his role in the systematic killings of unarmed women and children in My Lai, Vietnam.

In politics, President Nixon was in office and beginning his slow descent to his place in history. Ted Kennedy was busy partying with his own campaign staff and made his famous "swim" against unbeatable currents, leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to die, trapped in his car at the bottom of Chappaquiddick. Although this would end his hopes of ever becoming President, it had no effect on his position as head of the Senate Ethics Committee, a post he would occupy for 41 more years, until his death in 2010.

In the midst of all of this there were some very positive things going on as well. Man landed on the Moon, and the first Boeing 747 "jumbo jet" took flight, enabling more people than ever before to travel at an affordable rate. Gays grew tired of being harassed for their sexual orientation and fought back against police in New York City's Greenwich Village, in what would become known as the "Stonewall Riots." This would be the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement.

The Arts and Music scene were active. The Who released the first so-called rock opera, "Tommy." Neil Young and Steve Stills left Buffalo Springfield to form their own bands. Neil Young formed Crazy Horse and Steve Stills founded Crosby, Stills and Nash, which Neil Young would later join.

In Sports, there was Joe Namath, quarterback for the New York Jets, losing his career because he owned a restaurant where alcohol was served. The New York Mets were on the way to their first World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, which they would win. (I think I went to Game 5, at Shea Stadium, with John DiStefano.)

The book is augmented by a time line showing the news events of the year. And it was a busy one. Reading this book makes you aware that 1969 was not only the turning point of a decade, but also a watershed year, both in who we were and what we have, as a society, become.

Flying to the Moon

Tommorrow is the 41st anniversary of Apollo 11 and the historic Moon Landing. I'm not one of those that believe it was a hoax. I really do believe we landed on the Moon. That's why I am so puzzled by the recent buzz concerning the building of new rockets etc to land on the Moon again. Why can't we use the extra Saturn and Atlas rockets that were so successful in getting us there years ago? That is a topic for another time.

What has always put me at odds with some of my friends over the Moon Landing is the interview that I heard, via shortwave radio, out of Australia one night, maybe 20 years ago. In it, Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the lunar surface, spoke of UFO's that he and the other two crew members saw enroute. I have tried, unsuccessfully over the years, to get a recording, or even a transcript of this interview. Well, thanks to youtube I have got this video, taken from a British documentary, in which Mr. Armstrong explains the event and the cryptic message sent back to Mission Control, two days after they ejected the last stage of the booster rocket. It seems that something was traveling along with the Apollo craft. Here is the video, it has a few unnecessary things in it, but take the time to see and hear Mr. Armstrong talk about the incident in his own words. Remember, as you listen to this, that the astronauts are prohibited, for life, from discussing this on U.S. soil. And, much to their credit, none have broken that agreement. But, Mr. Armstrong has given these interviews in other countries, and they are public record.

http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=jIB25KGjLaY&feature=related

I have never believed that we are alone in the Universe. I don't live in fear of UFO's. I just wonder why the government goes to such lengths to deny the existence of such craft. Watch the video and draw your own conclusions. I am just posting this as a way of letting myself know that I'm not nuts. I really did hear Mr. Armstrong say this.

"We Seven" by The Mercury Astronauts

If you were over 5 or 6 years old in 1960 you will remember the first Mercury flights that presaged our landing on the Moon in 1969. Theses were 1 man capsules designed solely to test whether man could break through the atmosphere, orbit the earth, perform various mechanical jobs outside the capsule and return safely. These were all the same elements required to land on the Moon.

The Russians had already beat us with the first man in space by some 6 months. We were bound and determined to catch up and pass them in the “Space Race.” The ultimate goal was a manned landing on the surface of the Moon before the end of the decade.

7 men were deemed qualified to undertake the rigorous training that would be required to perform these initial missions. They would work closely with the engineers and scientists who would develop the capsules and the gear required for them.

I remember the first blast off from Cape Canaveral, later Kennedy Space Center, by Alan B. Shepard in April of 1961. I was in 1st grade and on split sessions. So I got to watch the event on TV before heading off to school in the afternoon. That first flight was 15 minutes up and back down, just enough time to punch through the atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. There the capsule and Shepard were both retrieved by an aircraft carrier. It was all so dramatic and scary. It was the unknown. And we got to watch it live.

The charm of this book is the telling of the story by the 7 men who lived it. They worked together to perfect the mission they would be tasked to perform. The stories they relate here are both anecdotal and scientific in nature. One moment you are learning about spacecraft attitude adjustments and the next you are reading about weightlessness and its’ effects on the human nervous system.

Everything had to be designed specifically for the mission. This was new ground being broken and there were no real rules.

The book is written in such a way that each astronaut takes his turn writing about a particular subject. This gives the reader a good overview of the subject from 7 different perspectives. The book traces the story of the 7 men from the selection process and on through to each of their individual flights.

It’s hard to write a book about such a complex subject and still have it remain “readable.” And these guys do a great job of it. Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton were 7 men whose extraordinary courage changed history. And now they have given us a superb, inside look at the work behind those achievements.