brianc
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This was printed in today's Orlando Sentinel. There was also a great B/W photo of
Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham in front of a Saturn I-B pad, but
that wasn't online...
Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham in front of a Saturn I-B pad, but
that wasn't online...
Lessons from Apollo 7
Spirits of recovery, rebirth guide NASA today
William Gerstenmaier | Special to the Sentinel
On Oct. 11, 1968, a golden-flamed phoenix took off from its perch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The phoenix was the Saturn IB launch vehicle, carrying the first astronaut crew (Apollo 7) to fly in space after the tragic Apollo 1 launch pad fire, which took the lives of astronauts Roger Chaffee, Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Edward White.
The 11-day Apollo 7 mission, led by Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham, proved the space worthiness of the Apollo command and service module. This was an important step in the extensive national effort to recover from Apollo 1 and then move forward to meet President John F. Kennedy's commitment to land astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade. Because of the confidence gained by Apollo 7, NASA boldly moved to orbit the moon with its next mission, Apollo 8, and conduct the first moon landing within a year.
Commander Schirra, who along with Eisele and Cunningham had served on the backup crew for Apollo 1, and who worked tirelessly to correct the mistakes and design flaws that led to the tragedy, wanted to give Apollo 7 the call sign "Phoenix" in recognition of the mythical bird symbolizing recovery and rebirth.
Even though NASA at the time thought the call sign was inappropriate, Schirra's idea was right on target. It is part of the American character, seen in such events as our response to the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, 9-11 and other moments of adversity, that we are not a people who quit.
In this same spirit, NASA is doing its utmost to recover from the space-shuttle Columbia accident, to safely fly the remaining shuttle missions aimed at completing the international space station, and then to inaugurate the next great era of space exploration with missions to the moon, Mars and beyond.
Today, the current state of spaceflight is comparable to that of sailing at the time Magellan first circumnavigated the globe some 500 years ago. Getting people into space even now, nearly a half century into the Space Age, is still barely within our capabilities, and it involves considerable risk. But the rewards looming ahead as humankind establishes beachheads in the cosmos are commensurate with the risk, as the exploration program being pursued by NASA is designed to advance America's economic, scientific and technological interests. Also, the potential for great nations to link arms and peacefully extend the horizons of civilization throughout the solar system gives millions of people hope for the future.
We are on the cusp of something big, something quite profound.
Completing the international space station with the space shuttle will not be easy. The risks will be high and the need to stay focused on the task will be huge.
After a tragedy, such as the Apollo fire or Columbia, it is easy to focus and concentrate on the tasks at hand. As we progress beyond the tragedies, focusing, learning, and searching for problems becomes more difficult. There is a tendency to believe spaceflight is easy and relax, to want to move on to new projects. Our job is to stay focused and perform the tasks of leading and building the international space station. What we will learn from the remaining shuttle flights and space-station assembly activities will expand our knowledge and capabilities and allow us to reduce the risks associated with exploration.
Our job is to fly safely and learn. We should not be afraid of failure, but be fully ready to learn. This means we will take smart risks, and not gamble foolishly. These trades will require the best in all of us. Developing the ability to learn and grow is vital to our ability to accomplish the goals of our nation's space exploration agenda.
The history of spaceflight demonstrates the importance of making bold commitments, and sticking to them through good times and bad.
It is in the spirit of the Apollo 7 mission that NASA continues to keep our eyes on the ultimate goal of becoming a spacefaring civilization.
William Gerstenmaier is associate administrator of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. He wrote this commentary for the Orlando Sentinel.
