Bob Hope and Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong's appearances on television were with Bob Hope only.

They became pals on a tour of Vietnam in 1969.

Neil Armstrong’s Moon

Introduction to “Moon Shot” by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton

LUNA INCOGNITA. THE UNKNOWN MOON. A silent sentinel, for all man’s history it hung overhead, remote, unreachable, unknowable.

Marching across the heavens each day and circling our earth monthly, the moon has fascinated scientists and inspired poets. Its changing shape provides a perpetual clock-calendar in the sky, a marker for planting, for holidays, for religious celebrations. So near and yet so far, men and moon intertwining for millennia, but never touching.

In the twentieth century, two distinctly different technologies emerged: the digital computer and the liquid-fueled rocket. Two great world powers, ideological adversaries, each recognized that the rocket, which could operate in a vacuum, and the computer, which could enable precision navigation, might break the barrier to space travel.

Both the Soviet Union and the United States believed that technological leadership was the key to demonstrating ideological superiority. Each invested enormous resources in evermore spectacular space achievements. Each would enjoy memorable successes. Each would suffer tragic failures. It was a competition unmatched outside the state of war. Finally, and unpredictably, the competitors would join in a cooperative effort that would contribute to the demise of the Cold War that enveloped them.

The moon’s isolation of nearly five billion years would end soon. Early in the space age, man-made probes flew near the moon. Others soon crashed into the lunar surface. Robot craft landed and transmitted pictures and scientific measurements back to earth laboratories. The stage was set for a visit by man.

The Soviets established an impressive number of “firsts”: first to place a satellite in orbit, first to send a probe to the moon, first to place a human in space, first to orbit two manned craft simultaneously, first to have a human exit his craft in space. But it would be the Americans who would accomplish the seemingly impossible sending men to the moon and returning them safely to earth.

History will remember the twentieth century for two technological developments: atomic energy and space flight. One threatened the extinction of society, one offered a survival possibility. If Earth were ever threatened by man-made or natural catastrophe, space flight could, just possibly, provide protection or escape.

Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton knew the practical aspects and the visceral feelings of flight. Both were experienced airplane test pilots. Test pilots have the responsibility for finding errors in airplane design. They may discover them during flight, but they would much prefer to identify the problems before going aloft. As two of the seven initial American astronauts, this search for perfection served them well.

Deke and Alan were at the heart of the manned space program. Deke was responsible for the selection of flight crews and their preparedness to fly in space. He took an intense interest in the well-being of his flock, protecting, supporting, and encouraging them. He was a superb boss.

Alan, as chief of the Astronaut Office, was responsible for da-to-day operations. Astronauts were needed for spacecraft tests, for design reviews, for newspaper interviews. With equanimity, he distributed these seemingly limitless tasks to a very limited number of “his boys”. He was an impenetrable barrier to inappropriate or ultimately requests. He was “the man in the middle” and handled it well.

Moon Shot is their story. Much more than the story of their flights in space, it details their central role in the most exciting adventure in history. Jay Barbree, one of the world’s most experienced space journalists, reported the triumphs and the tragedies from the dawn of the space age. He is exceptionally well qualified to recall and record the remarkable events and emotions of the time.

Luna is once again isolated. Four decades have passed without footfalls on its dusty surface. No wheeled Rovers patrol the lunar highlands. Silent ramparts guard vast territories never yet visited by man. Unseen vistas await the return of explorers from Earth.

And they will return.

—Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong - A Rare Interview, 2011

The First Artificial Satellite

On October 4, 1957 life as everyone knew it was to forever change. The Homo sapiens has become the first species to ever space fare by deploying the first object to orbit the Earth. It was called Sputnik, I and it was the first artificial satellite of the Blue Planet. Sputnik I was followed by Sputnik II and the first living being ever to reach space, the dog Laika. Needless to say, an entire constellation of satellites followed afterwards, pervading Earth’s orbit with manned-made objects, and changing the life of the earthlings in a multitude of ways. This paper summarizes the launches and features of the first two Soviet satellites Sputnik I and II, as well as of the first successfully launched American satellite Explorer I, focusing on some of the systems aboard each satellite.

Sputnik I was the first Soviet satellite to launch into space and the first manned made object to orbit Earth. It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 4, 1957 atop the Old Number Seven rocket.[1] Sputnik I orbited the Earth for 92 days, had about 184 pounds, and it was a contribution to the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). Its main mission was to successfully launch into space and orbit Earth as the first artificial satellite ever built and deployed by humans. Sputnik I was an aluminum sphere with a diameter of 58 centimeters and equipped with four whip-like antennas about 2.4 to 2.9 meters long, deployed at 35 degrees angles. [2] The sphere was filled with nitrogen under pressure. The power source was made of three silver-zinc batteries housed inside a sealed capsule, while a ventilator was used for thermal regulation. [3] Sputnik I also had a one-watt transmitter that was received by amateur radios on Earth. Its beeping signal first hit the United States in the evening of October 4, 1957. [4] The orbital parameters of Sputnik I were: periapsis – 215 km, apoapsis – 939 km, period – 96 minutes, inclination – 65 degrees and eccentricity 0.05. [5]

Sputnik I was not equipped with an attitude stabilization system of any kind. Its communications system transmitter had one-watt of power and its signals were of 0.4 seconds alternatively at forty and twenty megahertz wavelengths. The power system consisted of three silver-zinc batteries. The satellite had four whip antennas of 2.4 and 2.9 meters length. [6] Sputnik I was indeed the embodiment of simplicity. It did not even have a payload other than its own body, the aluminum sphere and the beeping radio. Sputnik I did not receive any commands from ground stations, being only equipped with a transmitter and not a receiver. The thermal control system, powered by the three batteries onboard, consisted of a fan, a dual thermal switch and a control thermal switch. [7] The thermal control system successfully operated as planned.

Sputnik I operated for 1,400 orbits of the Earth, a mission of three months. The first artificial satellite was able to communicate with the ground for about three weeks, the actual duration of the batteries supplying the transmitter with power. The limiting factor in its ability to communicate was of course the short life of the batteries. The main mission of Sputnik I was massively met because it successfully reached the orbit of Earth and it stayed there for three month, simply demonstrating that humans are able to launch objects into space. The launch of Sputnik I in 1957 opened a whole new world of adventure for humanity. It was the beginning of what turned out being known as the space age.

Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon