Message #3621

[Paul]

I'll second that one! My interest in the whole space/astronomy field was sparked by Apollo 8 - I was a 7 year old schoolboy at that time and remember all of it as if it were yesterday, and now the 40th anniversaries of those events of 1968/69 are coming around, it brings it all back!

As I became more interested in the history of Project Apollo one mission seems to have become forgotten - none of the TV documentaries even mention it - Apollo 4. This launch took place on Nov 9th 1967 and was the first (unmanned) launch of the mighty Saturn V vehicle. Apollo 4 introduced the concept of "all-up testing", that is, it was a mission that achieved many objectives in one go, not  just verifying that that the three stages of the vehicle all worked, but then using the final stage to fake a 25,000mph lunar return, re-entry the capsule and land it in a pre-determined place. Although no men were on board, it was just as audacious a mission as Apollo 8 and without that innovation it's unlikely that JFK's deadline would have been met.

And as for Gene Kranz, well we could do with him now - "Let's work the problem and not get confused by guessing!". There would be no credit crunch with clear thinking like that!

Paul.