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The Last Word


Bazza

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Re: The Last Word

 

Yeah, it was a Pres. Kennedy item, largely spawned by the Cold War. At the time he made the speech, it seemed quite doubtful that the US would be able to do it at all, let alone beat the Soviets there. But things happened, probably most importantly, Sergei Korolev, the driving genius of the Soviet space program, was killed in an accident.

 

The Soviet equivalent of the Saturn V (the rocket that put the Apollo moon missions up) never flew successfully. It had a couple of failures, one of which destroyed a portion of the launch complex.

 

OTOH, no Saturn V has been built or launched since the last Apollo mission, either.

 

Personal irony: I'm one of a minority of Americans alive at the time who did NOT see Armstrong when he stepped out. I was asleep in my bunk at Boy Scount camp in Germany; no TVs in the tents. Also, it happened about 3AM my time. My brother didn't see it either; he was in Frankfurt military hospital being treated for a nasty compound fracture of his arm, and was doped to the gills.

 

BTW, another anniversary on July 20: in 1976, the first Viking lander set down successfully on Mars. That was also a smashing success, and far from an assured one: Mars is notoriously difficult to land on (the Soviets suffered many failures, and the Americans have had a few, too).

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