The original Space Race
The 1960’s space race must have been something. Nothing seemed to have energized a country as Sputnik did. Although watching Disney Plus’ The Right Stuff, there was a lot of skepticism about the NASA program. If you believe the fictional show, Kennedy, regardless of his 1962 speech at Rice University to put a man on the moon within the decade, didn’t see a lot of political upside in NASA. Eisenhower would get the credit if it went well. Kennedy would get the blame if it failed. I wonder if it is similar to how we look at the Space Force today.
Recent fictional TV shows, such as the Right Stuff, or Apple TV’s For All Mankind, have peaked my interest in the original Space Race. I almost missed new year, while listening to the BBC’s 13 minutes to the moon podcast. I was glued to my earbuds, the same way my parents and grandparents must have been to their black and white television in 1969.
The heroic stories about the engineering to get a man into space, let alone land on the moon were incredible. They provide a great backdrop to today’s Crew Dragon missions from Space X or Blue Origin’s New Shepard mission. Yep, it is named after Alan Shepard, the first American to travel into space. And now I know a lot more about it thanks to The Right Stuff. The character which intrigues me a lot is Gordo Cooper, an enfant terrible among astronauts.
I am giddy I wrote this blog entry, as I just discovered there is a second season to the BBC podcast. This time they are covering the doomed Apollo 13 mission, sans Tom Hanks. I may miss Thanksgiving.