posted 12-06-2012 05:15 PM               

I had watched Tracy Cernan, Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan's daughter, who was not much younger than me, give an interview on the Today Show. I had my Marx Toys Johnny Apollo, and his erector set-built lunar rover standing by, but we had to get into, then out of, Earth orbit first.

The only night launch of a manned moon flight became a long night. As the excitement built, in the way only a manned flight away from Earth can, there was a big burp. At T-minus thirty seconds, the sequence halted. For over two and a half hours the NASA team troubleshot what turned out to be a small error, while a school kid from mid-Missouri got more and more sleepy.

I remember dozing in and out, still mostly seeing the white rocket sitting next to its red tower... and then something broke through my haze: it was the deep baritone of a public affairs officer saying "eleven, ten, nine...!" The haze of 11:33 PM Central Standard Time faded immediately — it had already been a long week in Mrs. Mansfield's Sixth Grade class — and I tumbled upright into the glow of the screen.

The TV phosphors overloaded, and cheers went up across the Eastern U.S. as the superbooster's big exhausts made night into day. We were going to Moon! Real guys, including a rock scientist, were going to make a quick swing around the Earth... and then LEAVE!

In a few days we would watch a remotely operated camera come to life on another world, and actually see both men's faces on the lunar surface, instead of just their golden visors. And I would feel the first sadness of loss, as we experienced the final segment of our species' greatest achievement. Horribly, it would all become a lot of rediscovered scrapbook photos and later a great digital archive.

posted 12-07-2012 07:40 AM               

Last lunar landing launched 40 years ago

Apollo 17, the last of the missions to land men on the moon, began 40 years ago today with the dawning of a man-made sun.

Lifting off just after midnight (EST) on Dec. 7, 1972, the Apollo 17 mission was the final of NASA's moon-bound manned flights — and the first night launch. The massive, 363-foot tall (111 meters) Saturn V rocket turned night into day as the long flames from its five powerful F-1 engines bathed the dark sky with a brilliant, bright-as-the-sun light that appeared to spectators to slowly climb skyward from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

posted 12-08-2012 12:40 PM            

I had no idea how long it would be before a new launch time would be decided. Eventually, with no expectation of capturing the moment, the BBC cut the satellite-link and shut down for the night. I had to transfer my attentions to the radio. Then I dozed off.

Shortly after 5.30am, some sixth sense woke me up to the sound of NASA's Chuck Hollinshead counting down past the T-2 minute mark. So at least I got to hear the launch live on the radio, but after all the media build-up about how spectacular the night-launch would be, I felt like a blind man being shown the Mona Lisa.

And so, after getting confirmation of safe entry into orbit, I climbed the stairs to bed for about two hours sleep before having to get up for school. That's what you call a bittersweet memory.

posted 12-13-2012 07:05 PM               

I recall seeing a red/orange flag on top of a seismic charge, and CAPCOM asking what that object was in the background. For a fleeting moment, we thought, hmm, maybe an artifact from other alien visitors?

I clearly remember Jack Schmitt very excitedly saying "There is orange soil here!"

And I sadly recall those well-said final words that Captain Cernan speaks quite memorably in interviews.

posted 12-19-2012 12:07 PM               

As naval officers and aviators, Capt. Cernan and Commander (soon to be captain) Evans were in a familiar world. Dr. Schmitt, speaking very briefly and jokingly, apologized for not being Navy, but noted he sure enjoyed being part of the team that day.

Still not sure if I like those old mustard-colored flight suits though.

posted 03-01-2020 10:20 AM               

While my reminiscing didn't make the final movie, I am very grateful to Simon for capturing this so that my grandsons and one day their grandsons can see it.

posted 12-09-2022 10:30 AM               

Artemis I vs Apollo 17: 50 years apart, which the greater challenge?

Packed on board NASA's Orion spacecraft, now on its way back from orbiting the moon, is a small badge representing the last mission to land astronauts on the lunar surface.

The Apollo 17 mission patch, which was flown on the uncrewed Artemis I capsule at the request of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, is a souvenir from the 1972 flight that saw Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt become the 11th and 12th humans to walk on the moon, while their crewmate Ron Evans remained in lunar orbit. It was the sixth and, to date, final time astronauts stepped foot on a world other than Earth.

posted 12-09-2022 01:13 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Space Cadet Carl:
One of my bigger regrets was not seeing a Saturn V launch in person.

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posted 12-10-2022 12:39 PM               

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the final lunar landing of the Apollo program I have uploaded the great lecture he gave at the Trondheim library.

posted 12-10-2022 05:35 PM               

The nearly month-long Artemis 1 mission to the Moon is slated to end on Sunday with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. On that very day 50 years ago, Dec. 11, 1972, the last Apollo astronauts set foot on the moon. Space historian Andy Chaikin, author of the definitive account of the Apollo missions "A Man on the Moon," joins Miles O'Brien to discuss the parallels.

posted 12-11-2022 09:49 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by KSCartist:
I was interviewed by Simon Warren...

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posted 12-12-2022 12:58 PM               

Before the launch I remember watching James Burke's documentary "The End of the Beginning" - it exists, but has never been broadcast again, but Lunar Module 5 has reconstructed it from audio.

posted 12-12-2022 08:14 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Captain Apollo:
I saw the launch on the BBC in the UK. The delay took it to long after midnight and with school to follow next day, it was a long but lovely wait....

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posted 12-13-2022 09:06 PM            

There is one possibility: I fell asleep waiting for the delayed launch but fortunately woke up at T - 2 minutes so I heard the launch live on the radio. I suppose it's possible I was so anxious to catch the live broadcast that I didn't check the TV again, but 50 years ago it was very expensive to use the live satellite link and most of the audience had already gone to bed, having been told TV had shut down for the night. If BBC did come back on the air, its audience would have been tiny for such an expensive link (James Burke told me in a 1972 letter the cost of the satellite link was "astronomical.")

posted 12-15-2022 08:26 PM            

And of course the picture in the UK was 625 lines (and, I believe, only 525 lines in the USA) so when we watch an Apollo 17 EVA recording today on a 4K set, it's not quite as we saw it 50 years ago! (But of course you're right that the pictures looked wonderful to us when we saw them in 1972, in spite of the limitations of our TVs!)

posted 12-19-2022 04:14 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
You didn't see it live on BBC, which shut down for the night after the launch was delayed.

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As noted here, "BBC TV opened transmission in the middle of the night a second [time] to cover the launch live." Source is the reputable site Digital Spy.

Here is a reconstruct of the coverage (the original video was wiped):

At the end of the audio James Burke says "We bring our launch programme from Cape Kennedy to an end" which certainly implies they were live on-air.

The audio was recorded by "Hardakml" who wrote in a message: "I was 14 years old when I recorded this. As I recall it, the aborted launch was sometime after midnight, UK time and I think I had to set my alarm clock to watch the real thing at 5 am. Certainly past my bedtime!"

The recording is Burke, so it's definitely the BBC TV transmission. The Radio 2 programme you heard did not feature James Burke and Patrick Moore. According to Radio Times "Arthur Garratt and Colin Riach were in the Apollo 17 studio in London and the countdown and blast-off from Cape Kennedy were relayed by the Voice of America and NASA transmission."

posted 12-20-2022 04:54 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Espace:
...of seeing the delayed launch carried live on UK TV.

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posted 12-20-2022 09:00 AM            

A good question is why I didn't check the TV "just to be sure" but the answer to that is that I fell asleep listening to the radio and only woke up at about T- 2 minutes. I think I was probably too concerned with following the countdown and getting my tape recorder running. And which of us is at his best at 5.30am having just woken up?

posted 12-21-2022 12:58 PM               

NASA participated in a Space Center Houston celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17 on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022.

On the heels of the successful Artemis I mission, NASA Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, astronaut Reid Wiseman, Artemis flight controller Jessi Horelica, and Artemis engineer Antja Chambers, joined Apollo legends in a panel discussion at Johnson's official visitor center. Gerry Griffin, Apollo 17 lead flight director, Gene Kranz, Apollo 17 flight director, and Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 moonwalker and Apollo 17 backup lunar module pilot, participated in the discussion.