Relations between North American and NASA were strained during the Apollo program, particularly after the Apollo 1 fire during which three astronauts died. The cause of the accident was determined to be an electrical short in the wiring of the command module; while determination of responsibility ...
"He was clearly the best writer among the (astronauts), wrote the best book by an astronaut and had a bit of the poet in him," Chaikin said in an interview. "Very perceptive, very keen insights, a very balanced view of life. He did not enjoy fame at all. That wasn't what he...
I think landing on the moon was very significant...We were the first to leave our home planet, they were the first to go to...another planet...To say that Apollo 8 is more significant, I'm not ready to say that. They were both significant." Space & Astronomy Astronauts decl...
Related: Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the Moon has died Notes The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsi...
But the astronauts didn’t stop at honoring Americans who had died in the space program. Frank Borman, who orbited the moon as commander of Apollo 8, was invited to meet with officials in the Soviet Union during the space race. This mee...
Chosen by NASA with its fifth class of astronauts in 1966, Worden made his first and only spaceflight as the command module pilot of Apollo 15, the fourth mission to land humans on the moon. Launched on July 26, 1971, Worden remained in lunar orbit on board the Apollo 15 command module...
astronauts sought to conserve the remaining oxygen and return safely to Earth. I recall our Junior High English class hurrying across the hall on that April day to a science classroom to watch the televised reentry, and I will never forget the cheer that went up in that classroom when the ...
died October 18 at the age of 84. Powell died from complications from Covid-19, his family said on Facebook, noting he was fully vaccinated. Powell had multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the body's immune response, as well as Parkinson...
Anders and fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and mission commanderFrank Borman, who died in November 2023, flew aboard the first lunar orbit mission in December 1968 on Apollo 8. Anders served as the lunar module pilot for the historic flight. ...
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo who died last month while piloting a plane over the waters off Washington state, was doing a flyby near a friend's house when the deadly accident happened, federal authorities said Tuesday....