I'd been promoted out of the Apollo program to a higher level job on an ICBM program by the time the first moon landing took place, on our son's fifth birthday, in fact, but will never forget the first full scale Saturn 5 launch. The Apollo program was the most exciting era of my career, where everyone working the program was totally dedicated, giving 110% every day, to landing our astronauts on the moon.
We'd had so many glitches and failures during the count down demonstration that we were sure the system was a long way from liftoff. But the countdown itself was perfect. Every one of the thousands of subsystems and millions of components comprising the Saturn/Apolllo system workded perfectly. I'd just come off shift and was standing with dozens of other Apollo team members on a flat bed outside of the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building on Merritt Island, s few miles from the launch pad --39B, I think it was -- and thousands of workers were similarly holding our breaths and praying as the countdown neared ignition.
When that booster lit off, I'm sure Orlando could here the roar, and the ground shook around us like am earthquake. She lifted off, and I believe to this day that the collective will and prayers of everyone of us were as instrumental in that lift off, the flight and perfect orbital insertion as the main boosters and the 1B stage!!! I recall that feeling as thought it were yesterday --- an at moments of recall, cannot believe that magnificent moment occurred nearly half a century go.
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Keith: Odds are you are right about that given the lack of wind, rain & snow on that dead moon. And while the lack of atmosphere doesn't slow meteors they are still not common enough to be a regular risk.
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