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Author	Topic: Apollo 10
Fra Mauro Member Posts: 1624 From: Bethpage, N.Y. Registered: Jul 2002	posted 06-19-2005 09:23 PM I just finished reading Apollo 10 by Apogee books, by the way, they should be commended for such an excellent series. Any reason why the backup crew included Cooper and Eisele, who NASA never intended to fly again? Was this all a setup for Shepard's return?
Henry_Heatherbank New Member Posts: From: Registered:	posted 06-19-2005 09:56 PM This is a very good question. I don't know the answer, but I suspect set-ups were not foremost in Deke's mind (not at least until the crew selection for 13/14 later in 1969). Foremost SHOULD have been the confidence that the backup crew could step in to complete the mission according to the flight plan. That makes the 10 BU crew make-up very interesting, given the importance as the rehearsal for the first lunar landing. One has to assume that the unavailability or unpreparedness of a crew would result in the substitution of the entire backup crew. Never happened in Apollo of course, but Deke still had to plan that way, so we have to assume that he had the confidence that a Cooper/Eisele/Mitchell crew could pave the way for Armstrong/Collins/Aldrin at a time when the clock was ticking towars the end of Kennedy's deadline.
J_Geenty New Member Posts: From: Registered:	posted 06-20-2005 05:16 AM When the Apollo 10 BCDR slot came up there really wasn't anyone else but Gordo left to fill it. I think I read somewhere (possibly in We Have Contact) that Deke said to Tom Stafford something along the lines of "Don't get injured" prior to the flight. They needed an experienced astronaut for the BCMP and Eisele was again one of the few available. While Eisele had suffered on Apollo 7 he had some friends in high places, like Tom Stafford. If he had worked his butt off on the Apollo 10 backup crew he might have saved himself. Its been said that Eisele took on the attitudes of his CDR and so suffered under Schirra and then Cooper. It would have been interesting to see how he would have performed if Tom Stafford or Frank Borman had been his CDR at some point. Just a thought. John

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