WORLD OF SCIENCE
Man to the moon!
DR. T. V. PADMA
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The first of a series of manned flights, Apollo7 was crucial.
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Apollo7 was the first of a series of manned flights. People had not forgotten the terrible tragedy of Apollo1 and this was a most crucial flight. The Commander, Walter Schirra, was a space veteran. He had flown both Mercury and Gemini missions.
For his crew Airforce Major Don Eisele and the scientist- astronaut Walter Cunningham this was their first flight. On October 11, 1968 a flame spurting Saturn 1B rocket lifted Apollo7 into orbit. Its progress was followed with concern on the TV.
An Intercept Ground Optical Recorder photographed Apollo7 until it was more than 100 miles away. The shutdown of the first stage of the Saturn and the ignition of the second stage could be seen on TV.
Schirra said, “Oh! Beautiful. The tower really jettisoned. Apollo went into orbit. It sure is a fantastic world up here. “Apollo ended its journey upside down but within a few minutes it corrected itself.
In space
For the first time live scenes were beamed from the spacecraft to TV audiences on the Earth. The cabin was bigger than those of Mercury and Gemini were. The crew had a little closet-sized area beneath the seats.
There were minor problems. Chief among it was that the crew members developed bad colds. This meant that on re-entry if their sinuses were blocked the increase in pressure might rupture their eardrums.
The crew decided that if they wore their helmets it would be difficult to hold their noses. They came down without their helmets.
However “the ghost of Apollo 1 was effectively exorcised” by this flight, in the words of Sam Phillips of NASA.
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