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[i]Two Apollo 11 astronauts were about to become the first people to land on the moon when a red light flashed in Houston's mission control center, warning that something was amiss in their onboard guidance computer. Engineers and scientists present at that moment 40 years ago this week quickly assessed the danger as they decided whether to scrap the landing. One man said go, and Russell A. Larson of MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory memorably flashed a thumbs-up, saying afterward that he was too nervous to voice his approval. Minutes later, the astronauts landed and stepped from the landing module into history. "Russ was one of the people who made the decision that the alarm was not that important and we could continue," said Norman Sears, a group leader on the first Apollo lunar landing who was at mission control as the scene unfolded. A "vintage-type engineer" who Sears recalled as someone who "loved a challenge of any kind," Mr. Larson had from childhood shown an aptitude for achieving things that seemed mechanically unachievable. He died Tuesday, [July 21], the day after the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 touchdown on the moon, at Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers. Mr. Larson was 77 and had lived for many years in Boxford.[/i]
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