In the last century, many test pilots and astronauts have paid for the cause of aerospace.
More than 50 years ago, NASA was frantically preparing for the moon landing to win the space race with the Soviet Union. And the U.S. authorities are keen to honor the late President Kennedy's 1961 commitment to honor him in this way. During this time, the United States conducted uninterrupted launch testing activities, determined to successfully land on the moon within a decade and return safely.
The United States successfully launched the lunar spacecraft on July 20, 1969, but this effort was based on failure and human sacrifice. About eight astronauts, candidates, and many NASA ground crews and crews were killed in the Apollo program's testing accidents. It can be said that it was the predecessors who used their blood to pave the way for Armstrong to land on the moon.
Space historian John Logsdon, professor emeritus at George Washington University, said: "The Apollo program is unique, and it is more like a military war, a great battle, than today's space activities. ”
To understand how the Apollo program differed from today's manned space program, we need to go back to the post-World War II era. During this time, test pilots are constantly challenging to overcome the sound barrier.
These pilots come from the Navy, the Air Force, or the National Aeronautical Advisory Board (NACA, the predecessor of NASA).
Howard C. Tick Lilly was NASA's first engineering pilot and the fourth to break through the sound barrier over California's Mojave Desert. But on May 3, 1948, the engine compressor of the test machine failed, causing the control cable to be short-circuited, and the aircraft crashed. This made him the first NACA pilot to die in the line of duty.
A month later, Captain Glen W. Edwards and four crew members were killed on their experimental Flying Wing plane. To that end, the California flying facility was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in his honor. According to James Hansen's biography of Neil Armstrong, "First Man," Edwards Air Force Base had seven test pilots die each month for a period in 1952.
By the early 1960s, when the space program was up and running, surviving test pilots were in the hands of NASA's team of astronauts. These people have both flight experience and scientific backgrounds, such as college-educated engineers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Roger Launius, a former NASA historian, said of the test pilots who later became astronaut candidates: "These people are used to taking on challenges, but their families are not used to it. It was devastating for their wives and children. ”
Armstrong also suffered a glitch on his first space mission, Gemini 8, which was almost a disaster. After a critical onboard failure, Armstrong and pilot David Scott began spinning out of control in space. After struggling to control it, Armstrong eventually regained control of the ship and landed safely.
Theodore Freeman was one of the first 14 Apollo astronauts. While Freeman was training near Houston, a flock of geese was accidentally sucked in by an airplane, causing equipment to malfunction and killing Freeman. In February 1966, the plane on which astronauts Eliot See and Charles Bassett were travelling crashed due to bad weather while landing at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, killing both.
Perhaps the most terrible catastrophe occurred when the astronauts had not yet left the ground. On January 27, 1967, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee of the Apollo 1 were conducting launch tests at the Kennedy Space Center, but their cockpit caught fire shortly after, trapping the three in the fire.
As a result, NASA faces resistance from the U.S. Congress and the public. Both Congress and the public are skeptical about whether the moonshot program is worth paying with lives and money. Congress focused on the causes of the Apollo 1 fire, while civil rights leader Pastor James Abernathy (Rev. James Abernathy led a protest against allocating spending on space programs while the country remained impoverished. There was even debate within NASA about whether the Apollo program ended in late 1969 or in late 1970.
When Armstrong and the other astronauts put on the Apollo 11 spacesuits in July 1969, both astronauts and NASA mission controllers were confident that the mission would succeed. Tethel Muir-Harmony, director of the Apollo Collection at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, said countless hours of human testing and engineering work were carried out to ensure astronauts return home safely.
"They want to make sure they have enough training to face any crisis," he said. Sometimes, they have to train seven or eight hours for an hour-long task. ”
The intensity and level of sacrifice of such efforts is unique, and, many historians believe, even if humans decide to leave Earth and move to the moon or Mars, this situation is unlikely to happen again.
(Source: National History Channel website)
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Author: Jiang Jiangjiang
Editor-in-charge: Lin Ren