Relaunched Moonshot "The Journeys of the Saturn"

I am relaunching my ATL now that things have settled down at my home with my family. I was not very happy with the title so I changed it and have made some tweaks to the story line so far.

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=301014

"Prologue"

January 4, 1969 outside Deke Slayton’s office at the NASA Space Center in Houston.

Pete Conrad was mulling over in his mind why Deke had asked him to come by his office this afternoon. He figured it would be for upcoming crew assignments. As a veteran of Gemini 5 and 11 he figured he would be in the running for a commander position for one of the initial moon landing mission behind Al and Gus. He was the backup Commander for Apollo 10 so he had a good shot to be the commander for 13. As he neared the office it was confirmed that it was something about the upcoming landings because both Al and Gus where outside Deke’s office. Al was standing and pacing with some annoyance in his eyes at having to wait and Gus was sitting in a chair trying to pretend he was more interested in the Life Magazine than what was happening around him. Al smiled at Pete as he approached and nodded at him. Big Al didn’t have many friends and Pete counted himself lucky that he was a friend of Al. Al and Pete had known each other from Navy Test Pilot’s school and respected each other’s flying abilities. It was Al who convinced Pete to apply again for the astronaut program after the incident during the selection of the first group of NASA astronauts “The Mercury 7”. Pete had gotten so fed up with all the invasive medical tests that he dumped a full enema bag on the desk of the clinic’s commanding officer and walked out. Needless to say he got a recommendation of not being suitable for space flight.

“So Al, do you think that Deke was short for a foursome at the golf course and needed our help?” – Al paused his pacing and then laughed at Pete’s comment.
Gus looked up at Al and Pete and was glad to see Pete here because for the last 5 minutes Al had been pacing and getting more upset at having to wait for Deke. He stood up and shook Pete’s hand. He knew Pete was really busy in training as the backup commander for Apollo 10.
“How is the training going for 10 Conrad?”
“It is going real well, even though Stafford has a rookie in Haise. However, Haise is really sharp and knows his stuff, and you know Young, he is quiet but he is really good at what he does”

Gus knew that already about Young, he had flown with him on Gemini 6 when Young had become the second American to walk in space, and he remembered how calm John was even when he was traversing over to the Gemini 7 capsule to retrieve an exposure experiment on the capsule. John was so cool and collective that he made being an astronaut look easy when it wasn’t. Gus got along really well with John and he was disappointed that with him flying on Apollo 10 that he wouldn’t be flying on another mission anytime soon with Gus.

“Yeah and Haise is probably the best out of Group 5. What did John call them again Pete?”
“He called them “The Original 19” Gus. It is a parody of the Mercury 7. John does have a funny sense of humor”
“Yeah that is true Pete”

Just then Deke Slayton, their boss came walking up. Deke opened the door to his office and smiled and motioned all of them to come in.

“Take a seat guys, sorry I was a little late. As you know the end of the decade is fast approaching and we still have a lot of work to do if we are going to keep Kennedy’s promise to land on the moon before the end of the year. The beginning of March we are going to launch Apollo 9 with McDivitt, Scott, and Bean and they are going to test out the Lunar Module in Earth Orbit. In May Apollo 10 is going to take the Lunar Module all the way to the moon and Stafford and Haise are going to go take it to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface to test it out while Young stays in the Command module. If all this goes according to plan, which is a big if then the Apollo 11 crew will get the first shoot at landing in July. Al you are going to command 11 and your Command Module Pilot will be Collins and your Lunar Module Pilot will be White. So that means White and you will be the first astronauts to walk on the moon, if you can make the landing.” Deke smiled at Al as he lighted his cigar.

Al, Gus and Pete all looked at each other. Pete was the first to reach out his hand
“Congrats Al, try to not trip on the ladder while climbing down”. Gus also shook Al’s hand.
“Don’t worry Al” As Gus slapped Al’s back “If you guys on 11 cannot hack it then I am sure that one of us can handle being the first to land” Al narrowed his eye at Pete and Gus
“You guys can both screw yourselves; I am going to land, long before you two Assholes”

Deke raised his hand to get back control of his meeting

“OK guys there will be plenty of work for the next several years and many opportunities to walk on the moon in future missions. “Deke paused because he knew that whoever first walked on the Moon would be in the history books and it wouldn’t just be another missions ” With Kennedy’s push for more science on the moon landings and not just planting the flag and collecting a few rocks and then going home, we have a lot of work. Right now we got missions and hardware being built for landings out through Apollo 25. Anyway Gus you are commanding Apollo 12, your command module pilot will be Chaffee and your Lunar Module pilot will be Armstrong.”

Gus nodded his head. His crew will also be an all veteran crew. At least he didn’t get Aldrin, that guy talked way too much about rendezvous in space and orbital mechanics. Aldrin was known as Dr. Rendezvous around the astronaut office. “Sounds good Deke we will be ready” Gus paused and looked over at Al “In case Shepard has a problem”
Deke smiled and pointed his finger at Conrad

“Pete, I didn’t forget about you. You will be Commanding Apollo 13 with Gordon as your Command Module Pilot and your Lunar Module Pilot will be Cunningham. You will be all training for the same landing spot in the Sea of Tranquility. So 11 gets the first shot in July, if “Deke pauses and looks at Al” IF Al cannot make the landing then 12 gets a shot at landing in September. If 12 cannot make the landing then 13 gets to make a try in December for the first landing. “
Deke paused and looked over everyone.

“That being said, I know that we really want to make Kennedy’s goal and have him personally congratulate us. However it is more important that all of you come back alive. That is why we have 3 tries here. If 11 does land, then the landing sites and launches dates for 12 and 13 will change and be pushed back. Apollo 12 will then probably launch in November and the target landing site will be the Ocean of Storms. Apollo 12 will become the first H mission with 2 EVA’s and will try to land near enough to Surveyor 3 that we can remove a few parts and bring back to see what long term Lunar exposure does to an object. Apollo 13 will then probably launch around April next year and there is discussion that 13 will be the first landing with a major emphasis on science. “Deke paused and looked at Pete and smiled “That will mean a lot more science training for you Pete”.

Pete grimaced because he already knew that he had trouble staying awake during the Geology training.
Al looked over at Pete
“We are going to have to get you a white lab-coat Pete instead of a flight suit”.
Pete scratched an itch on his face with his middle finger pointed at Al.

“Ok guys” Deke put his hand up
“Just letting you know that we have solid future plans beyond just the initial landings” Deke paused because he knew that wasn’t always the case. He knew that just recently as 18 months ago it had been planned that only enough Saturn V’s would be produced to support a limited number of missions. The entire Saturn V production line would be shut down after only 15 rockets being built. However in 1967 Kenned had made a push to cement his legacy as the first space president and he had sat down with James Webb (The head of NASA) and had plotted a course through the 70’s for lunar exploration and eventually a lunar base. Von Braun had made a push to go all the way to Mars and Deke knew that this would have been an incredible journey. However Webb and Kennedy had realized that the support wasn’t there for such a massive budget that a Mars mission would have required. Kennedy knew he could get long term support for an overall NASA budget of around 2-2.5% of the overall Federal budget. However the support wasn’t there for the funding levels of the last several years. In 1966 NASA funding had peaked at over 4% of the Federal Budget. Already new versions of the massive F-1 engine and the smaller J-2 engine where being developed and tested, a new Block III command and service module and a new Lunar Module that the Grumman people promised would allow stays for up to 2-weeks on the surface. All this would hopefully allow the establishment of permanent base on the Moon by the mid 1970’s. Kennedy was intrigued by the idea of being able to look at the Moon in the night sky and knowing that humans were up their working and making discoveries. Kennedy had even mentioned that he would love to eventually go the moon on a vacation. He had laughed it off as ridiculous but Webb had told Deke that he really thinks that Kennedy was serious. Deke grimaced to himself and realized that he also wanted to walk on the Moon, however he knew that wasn’t possible unless somehow his erratic heart rate somehow disappeared. The Moon was funny that way how it kind of captured your imagination. He looked over at Al, Gus and Pete and thought about how lucky he was to work with such an elite group of pilots.

“Ok guys that leads us into backup crews. Al you will have Lovell backing you up as Commander with Cernan as the Command Module Pilot and Aldrin as the Lunar Module Pilot.”
Al grimaced to himself. He would have to make sure that White stays healthy because there is no way he would want to go to the moon with Aldrin.
Pete spoke up “Hey how come Al gets “shaky” Lovell as his backup Commander, I wanted Lovell to back me up?”

“I didn’t want to put Lovell through that torture Pete. Who knows what you would do to him”
Pete laughs “That is true Deke”

“Ok so now that is settled, Gus you will have Scott as your backup Commander with Worden as the Command Module Pilot and Schmitt as the Lunar Module Pilot” Deke paused as both Al, Gus and Pete looked at Deke with a shocked look on their faces “I know what you guys are thinking, however Kennedy wants an emphasis on science after the first couple of missions. With Schmitt as the backup Lunar Module Pilot on 12 that means he will be on the prime crew for 15. You guys don’t know this yet but if your missions go well, Apollo 15 will be the first extended duration J mission with a modified Lunar Module for an extended stay on the surface, a Lunar Rover and a total of 3 EVA’s over a 3-day stay on the lunar surface. No offense to you guys “Deke paused and looked at the 3 astronauts” Schmitt is a Geologist and has become a good pilot from the feedback that I am getting while he was in Pilot training. If we really want to learn about the moon. We need to get some scientists to the Moon and Schmitt is a good guy. I wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t and if I say he is qualified he is qualified” Deke paused “Any concerns or questions” Deke stared at the 3 astronauts

Al cleared his throat “Deke if you say that Schmitt is qualified then he is qualified”
“Ok that leaves you Pete, After Young gets done with Apollo 10 he will be the backup commander for 13 and the rest of the backup crew will be Mattingly as the Command Module pilot and Haise as the Lunar Module pilot. Any questions?”
“Ok great, now good luck on all your missions, don’t fuck up and make me look bad for picking you guys. Remember this assignment isn’t official so don’t talk about it yet. Now get out of my office, Al can you stay a moment I need to talk to you.”

After Gus and Pete left, Al walked over and shut Deke’s door.
“So what can I do for you Deke?”
“Al, I have a problem with “Gordo” (Gordon Cooper), I had assigned him as backup on Apollo 7 and with all the chaos Schirra caused on his flight I probably would have been better of sending Gordo up instead of Schirra”
Al grimaced as he remembered that flight. Schirra flight was to the first test of the Block II Command and Service module in Earth Orbit before the flight of Apollo 8 which was going all the way to the moon. It had originally been discussed if the flight was really needed. The Block I Command and Service Module had already been tested twice in Earth Orbit during Apollo 1 and 2. However with all the problems with the Block I. Al remembered he had to threaten to resign before people started paying attention to all the issues in the Block 1, that thing was a death trap before he insisted that all the issues get corrected, starting with the wiring. With all those problems in mind with the Block I, NASA Management had decided that a test flight in Earth Orbit was called for it was decided that Schirra would be the commander with Cernan as the Command module pilot and rookie Schweickart as Lunar Module Pilot.

Schirra got a head cold during the mission and he then passed on that cold to Schweickart who also got violent case of motion sickness during the early part of the mission. He had no idea how Cernan didn’t get the cold but Cernan got caught in the crossfire between Houston and Schirra. Schirra openly talked back to Houston and was insubordinate. At several points, Schweickart also started arguing with Houston. Deke was getting more and more frustrated with Schirra’s behavior. Deke finally took over at CAPCOM to try and get Schirra to stop being so argumentative on the radio with Houston. However even that didn’t stop Schirra and when Cernan volunteered to turn on a TV Camera that Houston asked to be turned on and Schirra didn’t want to be turned on. Schirra then preceded to verbally berate Cernan for over a minute on an open mike. The final straw was during re-entry when Houston wanted the astronauts to wear their pressure suits and helmets during re-entry and Schirra didn’t want do. Well Cernan was the only one of the 3 that wore his helmet and pressure suit during re-entry. After that mission Schirra, decided to retire. Which was good because Deke wanted to fire his ass. Kris Kraft was so upset that he didn’t want any of the astronauts from Apollo 7 to ever fly again. However Deke persuaded Kraft that Cernan wasn’t to blame and he would place Schweickart in a non-flight position for a couple of years so he could learn some better judgment.

Al came out of this thoughts and he looked up at Deke “Let me guess “Gordo” is not taking the training seriously?”

Deke nodded his head “Gordo is a great pilot and the job that he did during his Mercury Mission when he had to do a manual re-entry was absolutely superb. However the Apollo capsule is much more complicated than either the Mercury or Gemini capsules. He thinks that if he doesn’t know something he can just fall back on his pilot skills and that will not work with the Apollo capsule. He thinks he is going to the Moon but I cannot send him to the Moon when he doesn’t take the training seriously. I am going to need to tell him as of right now he is not on a Moon mission. If he starts taking things more seriously I could think about sending him as a Lunar Module Pilot but he is not anywhere near ready for that let alone a Commander position.”
Al looked at Deke “Gordo is going to be pissed but you have to do what is best and we cannot send him a ¼ Million miles to the Moon with him thinking that he can manually fly the capsule. He will kill himself and the other 2 crew members.”

“Thanks Al I appreciate your input. What are you going to say when you first step on the Moon”
Al winked at Deke “I am sure I will come up with something to remember” Al stood up and shook Deke’s hand.

Hold on a second Al before you leave “I need you to do be at the Cape with me on January 10th. I know you have a lot of work to get ready for 11 but Kennedy is coming to the Cape as his last official trip as President. I want you there to show him around. NASA can always use some good PR and the press will be out in force. I will be making the official announcement for the crew of Apollo 11. Collins and White will also be there. So make sure your crew is spiffed up and presentable. “

Al smiled “We will be there and will be presentable” Al then turned and left Deke’s office.

Deke sat at his desk and looked at the ceiling for several minutes. He then activated his intercom and told his secretary to get a hold of Gordo Cooper and ask him to come by his office. This was going to be long afternoon.
 
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"JFK"

November 22, 1963 – Dallas, Texas

The motorcade of John Fitzgerald Kennedy slowly wound its way through the streets of Dallas on its journey to the Dallas Trade Mart for the luncheon that the President was going to attend. Kennedy was not happy that because of the rain in Dallas the Secret Service had decided to leave the bubble top on the presidential limousine. He wanted the crowd to be able to see him easier and he didn’t like the top up on the limousine. However he knew with the rain and drizzle that was still hanging around the skies of Dallas, it was the correct decision to leave the top up. Kennedy knew they were getting close to the Trade Mart and they were only a couple of minutes behind schedule. The Limo turned onto Elm Street and passed by the Texas School Book Depository. All of a sudden Kennedy felt something hit him in the right side and he fell forward in his seat.

“Shots fired, Shots fired” Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman shouted on the radio.

For the driver of the limousine, Agent Bill Greer his training immediately took over and he slammed on the accelerator of the almost 4 ton limousine. The 350-hp Ford engine surged the vehicle forward. A second shot rang out and he heard it hit the rear of the limousine.

“Everybody down, down, get down” Agent Kellerman shouted as he twisted around in his seat.
“Oh, no, no, no My God. I have been shot” shouted Governor Connally who was sitting directly behind Agent Kellerman.

Agent Kellerman ignored the Governor because his focus was on the President above anyone else in the limousine, even Mrs. Kennedy. He heard another shot hit the rear of the limousine but this passed through the top and out the side without hitting anyone. He could see that the president was hit and was clutching at his right side and blood was coming out around his fingers.

“Greer take us to Parkland Hospital, the President is hit.” Agent Kellerman then keyed his radio ” The President has been hit and we are taking him to Parkland.”

The Presidential limousine arrived at Parkland Hospital a few minutes later. Nobody was outside but Agent Kellerman quickly ran into side to get someone. Agent Greer got out of the car and opened the door where the president was laying. He could see that Mrs. Kennedy was completely panicked.

“Oh my God have they killed him? Somebody help him!!” Mrs. Kennedy Shouted.

At this time Kellerman came out of the Hospital with a wheelchair and an orderly following behind him. They quickly got the President out of the car and into the wheelchair. Kellerman pushed Kennedy into the emergency room and he was quickly tended to. It was only then it was discovered that governor Connally had also been hit. He was also quickly moved into the hospital and was tended to. The President and been hit on his right side in the back and the bullet had pass through him and he had a collapsed lung on the right side. Both the President and Governor Connally where prepared for surgery. About 15 minutes later Vice-President Johnson arrived. The secret service had wanted to move Johnson to Air Force One but Johnson insisted that he wasn’t leaving until the president’s condition was stabilized. The Surgeons worked over the next hour in surgery to stabilize the president. The President came out of surgery in critical but stable condition. Unfortunately Governor Connally’s condition was graver and he passed away on the surgery table from his wounds. Only after the President was stable, did Vice President Johnson allow himself to be flown back to Washington DC.

The president remained at Parkland for the next week with Mrs. Kennedy before he was well enough to be flown home. The shooter was cornered in a movie theater and apprehended within a couple of hours the shooting. The shooter was identified as Lee Harvey Oswald. He would be charged with the attempted assassination of President of the United States and the murder of Governor Connally. Since Robert Kennedy knew that Texas justice was swift he allowed the state to pursue its case against Oswald before any federal trial. Oswald would later be found guilty in state court and he was sentenced to electric chair.

Some would say that the assassination attempt was a defining moment for the Kennedy administration. After he recovered he found the American public was more receptive to his ideas and he was re-elected to 2nd term in the 1964 presidential election by a wide margin. Johnson would remain as his running mate. Robert Kennedy left his brothers cabinet in early 1964 to run for a set in the US Senate representing New York. He won this election with some assistance from both his brother, who carried New York by a wide margin and assistance from Vice President Johnson. To Kennedy’s surprise with his brother Robert no longer on his cabinet he enjoyed better relations with Vice President Johnson.
 
"Gemini-Part 1"

March 23, 1965 Launch Complex-19, Cape Canaveral Air Force station, Gemini 3 launch
Alan Shepard tried to get comfortable in the cramped seat of the Gemini capsule. This would be the first manned launch of the Gemini Capsule. Sitting next to him in the capsule was Thomas Stafford who was part of Astronaut Group 2 “The New Nine”. The Gemini capsule itself was much more sophisticated than the mercury capsule that he flew on MR-3 and the rocket he would be riding was a whole lot more power. The Redstone rocket that he rode on MR-3 had only one stage that put out less than 100,000lb of thrust and pushed his mercury capsule onto a sub-orbital trajectory of a little over 100+ miles. The Titan II rocket he now sat atop of 1st stage alone put out over 400,000lb of thrust. The 2nd stage would then put out 100,000lb of thrust for over 5 minutes to place the 7,000lb plus Gemini capsule into orbit.

“Well Tom I don’t know about you but I am about ready to get this candle lit.”
Tom chuckled “This is some candle Al”
They got interrupted by Gordon Cooper on Capcom “Gemini 3 everything looks good now and we are going to continue the countdown at T-minus 3 minutes”
Both Al and Tom adjusted themselves in their seats again.
“Don’t fuck up, Shepard……” Al said quietly to himself.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – The Titan II rocket ignited and pushed both Al and Tom into their seats. They both kept their hands on the ejection seat D-ring. However they hoped that they would never have to pull it. The heavy hatches where supposed to be blown free before the ejection seat fired but neither Al nor Tom really wanted to test the ejection system. They could feel the g-forces building up as the rocket pushed them upwards into the sky. The Titan rocket got lighter and lighter as fuel was burned off and the G-forces built up to a little over 5G. Then suddenly staging happened and the 1st stage burned itself out and they were pushed forward and then backward against the straps as the 2nd stage ignited and continued pushing them upwards and the G-forces built up again until a little over 7G’s before they were in orbit. This was much different than what Al remembered from his brief time in Zero G several years earlier. Al and Tom were now in orbit and the view was magnificent as they circled the globe. However there wasn’t much time to see the sights. The short 3 orbit flight was crammed full of tasks that need to be completed. The Gemini capsule was a brand new spacecraft and one of its key abilities that was going to be tested on this mission was the ability to change orbit.

The old Mercury spacecraft only had altitude control which allowed the spacecraft to change its pitch, yaw and roll orientation in space. However the Gemini Spacecraft was equipped with an Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering Systems (OAMS) which would allow Al to perform changes in all 3 axes (forward/backward, left/right and up/down). This new maneuvering would allow the Gemini spacecraft to perform rendezvous and docking with other spacecraft including the new Agena Target Vehicle. This new un-manned vehicle had its own rocket engine and would allow them to achieve even a wider range of orbits including much higher orbits above the Earth. For the first time Al really felt like he could actually fly a spacecraft and he was really in control.

During the next 3 orbit’s Al was able to change the orbit of the Gemini Spacecraft several times. The other important test that the medical team wanted to find out was if you could execute a “Bowel movement” in Zero-G. This was an essential fact that had to be found out before a Moon trip could happen. You couldn’t go to the Moon and back with having to take a Shit. Being the mission commander he had decided to delegate this critical task to Tom and during the second Orbit Tom was able to conduct the necessary contortions in the spacecraft to make use of the fecal matter collection bag in Zero-G. The 3 orbit mission passed quickly and before it was time for re-entry. Al fired the retro-rockets and this reduced the velocity of the spacecraft enough that it would start dropping into the Earth Atmosphere.
Unfortunately during re-entry because of a miscalculation by ground control, the spacecraft came in 60 miles short of its landing zone. However within 30mins the navy was onsite at the capsule and recovery of the astronauts and the spacecraft went smoothly.

March 29, 1965 NASA Space Center in Houston – Director Robert R. Gilruth office

“Deke we really need to push things forward on doing an EVA. The Russians have got another first again with the first spacewalk. This is coming down all the way from President Kennedy. He is getting tired of the Russians beating us to firsts in space. We need to get a spacewalk added to the mission for the upcoming Gemini 4. Nothing too complex but we need to show they we are not far behind the Russians. I want you to start having the astronauts prepare for the EVA in secret. If we find out that we are not ready for it then we will not do it. However we really need to get this done. “
Deke nodded his head “Ok Robert I will talk to Schirra and we will set some things up to start practicing for the EVA. We will get back to you if we think it is doable or not on Gemini 4. “

March 29, 1965 NASA Space Center in Houston – Deke’s Slayton’s office

“What the Hell do you mean you want to add a full EVA to Gemini 4? This is a brand new spacecraft, it has been barely tested by Al and Tom in orbit. Now you want to add a full EVA where Ed will actually step out of the capsule and float around? Don’t you think we are trying to rush things Deke?”
Deke sighed, he knew that Schirra was right, that things were being rushed but he wished that Schirra would take a step back sometime and see the bigger view.

“Look Wally I understand where you are coming from. However the Russians beat us again and we need to follow up quickly and get an EVA completed. Leonov EVA earlier this month really caught us by surprise. Kennedy is getting tired of how the Russians keep beating us. I know originally we just talked about just opening the hatch up and taking some pictures with the hatch open. However we are now being asked to look at doing a full EVA where White exits the capsule and maneuvers around outside. Can you please just work with us on this? Let’s evaluate things and see if this is doable. How does that sound?”

Wally frowned at Deke. He could see that minds where already made up. He didn’t like rushing things and he felt like this EVA was being jammed down this throat.
“Ok Deke let’s see what type of simulations we can put together and I will talk to Ed.

June 3, 1965, Earth Orbit, Gemini 4

“Ok Gus we are about ready to open the hatch and have Ed step outside now, do you copy that?” Wally Schirra keyed his mic.
“Roger that Gemini 4, Cabin is depressurized and you are ready to open that hatch. You are go for EVA.” Gus Grissom responded, working CAPCOM in Houston
“Hey Wally? There is a problem with this damn latch on this door. I cannot get it to open?” Ed reported
“Crap let me take a look. We had a problem like this in one of the tests on the ground. Let me walk you through how to get that latch to work. “

Wally was able to help Ed get the hatch open and Astronaut Ed White took the first spacewalk by an American in space. After about 20 minutes of floating around outside and doing some maneuvering Ed re-entered the capsule and they were able to get the balky hatch closed again. The Gemini 4 lasted a little over 4-days and was the longest duration flight so far for the US space program.

The next mission of the Gemini Program would be Gemini 5 which would have Gordon Cooper as Command Pilot and Pete Conrad as Pilot. This mission would be the first mission that would use fuel cells for the Capsules main source of power and would set a new duration for length of time in orbit of 8-days.

October 25, 1965 Launch Complex-19, Cape Canaveral Air Force station, Gemini 6 launch

Gus waits patiently for the liftoff of the Agena Target vehicle. Once it is confirmed that the vehicle had successfully lifted off and achieved orbit then Gemini 6 will lift off with him and John Young for a planned 2-day mission. This would include the first rendezvous and docking in space with the Agena Target vehicle. The Agena Target vehicle would be lifted into orbit by an Atlas booster.
Being strapped inside the Gemini Capsule Gus and Young couldn’t see or even hear the launch of the Agena target vehicle. However Gus and Young where able to listen in to the radio conversations going on about the launch. Everything seemed to be going fine until it was time to fire the Agena engine to finish getting the vehicle into orbit. At this time Gus heard some chatter on the radio that Telemetry was lost on the Agena. Shortly afterwards Radar picked up pieces of the vehicle falling into the Ocean.

Gus looked over at John “Well John I don’t think we are launching today. We lost or target for the rendezvous. “
John shook his head “Looks like we are staying grounded today, I get to keep my silver astronaut pin for a little longer”
“Gemini 6 this is Cape Launch Control we are going to have some discussions but as you heard we lost the Agena target vehicle and we are probably going to abort the launch today.”
“Roger that Cape, John and I are just going to sit here and take in the sights and you let us know what Houston wants to do” Gus sighed, looks like finally getting into orbit was going to take a little longer.

After waiting for almost an hour, the launch was finally scrubbed and Gus and John where pulled out of the capsule.

October 28, 1965, Houston Space Center

“Ok thank you all for showing up today. “ Director Robert R. Gilruth looked around the room.
“We will not have another Agena target vehicle until after the first of the year available. However we cannot afford to wait that long. We need to come up with some alternatives. “

Over the next several hours there was heated discussions about alternatives. Finally it was decided to make use of the Gemini 7 mission. Gemini 7 was scheduled to launch in December with Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on a long duration 14-day mission. If they hurried up on the pad turn around at the Cape they should be able to launch the two missions within 8 days of each other. Gemini 7 would launch first and then 8-days later Gemini 6 would launch and they would do the first rendezvous in orbit. They would not be able to dock but they could rendezvous. The first docking would wait until Gemini 8 when another Agena Target vehicle was available for launch. At one point there was a discussion of an EVA where Jim Lovell and John Young would swap space-crafts. However Frank Borman vetoed that since that would mean that Jim would have to wear an uncomfortable full EVA spacesuit on the 14-day mission. However it was decided that an EVA would be done by Gemini 6. John would traverse over to the Gemini 7 capsule and retrieve a micro-Metroid experiment plate from the back of Gemini 7 Equipment Module and then bring it back to the Gemini 6 capsule.

December 4, 1965 Launch Complex-19, Cape Canaveral Air Force station, Gemini 7 launch

Command Pilot Frank Borman and Pilot James Lovell where about to be blasted into space on the longest space flight in human history. If all went according to plan they would spend 14 days in orbit and would also conduct the first rendezvous’ with Gemini 6 in space. At 2:30 in the afternoon on December 4, 1965 the Titan II rocket carrying Gemini 7 lifted off LC-19 exactly on time and 6 minutes later the capsule was in-orbit to begin its 14-day mission. The mission would be full of medical experiments so it could be evaluated what would happen to the human body during a 14 day mission which would be about the expected time it would take to go the moon and back.

As soon as Gemini 7 took off the work started to clear and prepare the pad for the Gemini 6a launch. It had been expected that it would take around 8-days to repair the damage from the Gemini 7 launch and erect the Gemini 6a rocket. Originally the pad crew had been skeptical that it could be accomplished however an abbreviated schedule had been prepared.

December 12, 1965 Launch Complex-19, Cape Canaveral Air Force station, Gemini 6a launch

Gus Grissom and John Young both sat back got comfortable in the Gemini capsule. The launch countdown was going well and hopefully they would soon be in orbit and preparing to rendezvous with Gemini 7.
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 – Both Gus and John felt the engines ignite on the Titan rocket and then it immediately cut off. The clock had started on the panel indicated that the rocket had moved upwards however neither Gus nor Young had felt the rocket move. At this point with a fully fueled rocket they should pull the injection handle however Gus and John didn’t want to test the ejection system and their asses where telling them that the rocket had not moved. They both sat their holding their breaths and wondering what to do. The malfunction system on the Titan II rocket had stopped the fuel flow to both engines because it had sensed that something was wrong. Once it was determined that the rocket wasn’t going to explode the erector was put back up and Gunther Wendt and his McDonnell Pad team got Gus and John out of the capsule.

December 15, 1965 Launch Complex-19, Cape Canaveral Air Force station, Gemini 6a launch

Gus and John where back in the Gemini 6a capsule. The team at the Cape had been able to quickly diagnose the issue with the Titan II rocket and get everything turned around in record time for a try at a re-launch. The clock was ticking since the Gemini 7 capsule had already been in orbit 11 days and could only stay up a couple of more days. They needed to get into orbit today.

This time the Titan rocket ignited and didn’t stop and shortly after ignition the Gemini 6a capsule was in orbit. The rendezvous was planned for the 4th orbit. After being placed into orbit the capsule made a serious of orbit adjustments until it was in position to catch up to the Gemini 7 capsule. Due to how orbital mechanics worked if you wanted to catch up to an object in orbit you travelled in a lower orbit that was faster and by the 3rd orbit the Gemini 6a capsule was able to get a radar return on the 7 capsule and Gus then put the Gemini computer in charge of the rendezvous. By the fourth orbit the 6a capsule had closed to within 150 feet of the 7 capsule. The two capsules where easily able to station keep with one another fairly easy and at one point approached to within 1 foot of each other. After spending about 2 orbits easily station keeping Gus made the decision to postpone the EVA until after the sleep period. Both John and Gus had worked hard throughout the day with the launch and rendezvous and Gus though it was better to try the EVA after some rest. Houston agreed with this assessment. Gus then backed the 6a capsule away from the 7 capsule to put some distance between them and then both crews settled down to rest.
December 16, 1965 Earth Orbit.

Gus and John after waking up, got prepared for today’s EVA. The first thing Gus had to do was to get within a couple of feet of the Gemini 7 capsule. It felt strange to be looking out the small capsule window and to see another capsule floating just a couple of feet away.

“Ok Houston we are ready for John to open up the hatch and talk a walk” Gus radioed to Houston.
“Roger that Gemini 6, we copy you as ready for EVA. You are clear to open the hatch and start”
“Roger that Houston John is now opening the hatch”

John slowly opened the hatch and stood up in the seat. The view was spectacular of Earth. John had to force himself to concentrate on the task at hand. John pushed himself out of the hatch and he floated over to Gemini 7. John could see both Frank and Jim through the small windows of the Gemini 7 capsule, he wanted to wave but he had to keep focused on the EVA.
“Oh crap Gus” John had pushed himself a little too much and he had too much velocity when he landed on the Gemini 7 capsule and he couldn’t get a good hand-hold. He literally could feel his finger go across the capsule and then was beyond it. He used his HHMU (hand-held maneuvering unit) that discharged Nitrogen to null out his forward momentum. However he was now floating on the other side of the 7 capsule. He had to use the HHMU to get himself back to the 6a capsule hatch.

“Gus they should really put some better hand-holds on the outside of these things.” John complained to Gus
“You ok John?” Gus was concerned because he had seen John’s wild tumble across the top of the 7 capsule.
“I will be fine Gus, just getting myself together for another attempt at this, this is a lot harder than it looks”

This time John slowly pushed himself off and used the HHMU to propel himself back over to the 7 capsule. He was able to work himself around to the rear of the Equipment Module. He was able to find the micro-Metroid plate and removed it without too much fuss. He then used the HHMU to move himself back over the 7 capsule. He stopped and made a motion of wiping the outside of the 7 capsule windows for Jim and Frank.

“Hey John, Frank has asked if you could check the oil while you are at it?” Gus radioed to John
John chuckled and gave Frank and Jim a thumps up “Gus tell Frank no problem, everything looked good while I was back there”

John was able to maneuver himself back over the 6 capsule. He discovered that working in zero-G was unlike anything else he had every done and you had to work slowly and not try to fight Zero-G to get your tasks completed. After a little over 95 minutes, America’s second spacewalk had been completed and John Young had done a lot more than just float around outside for 20 minutes.

December 18, 1965 Atlantic Ocean

Because of the delay in the Gemini 6a launch both 6a and 7 where scheduled to both splash down on December 18th. It was decided that 6a would land first and then 1 orbit later 7 would land. The Carrier Wasp was on station and both spaceships and crews where recovered easily. Which was a relief to Gus since his last spacecraft had sank during recovery. Gemini 6a and 7 would be known as a record breaking mission. NASA had now proven that man could survive 14 days of zero G which would be more than enough time to go to the moon and back. The mechanics necessary for orbital rendezvous had also been practiced. Also the ability to successfully work in zero-G had been demonstrated. By the end of 1965 NASA was well on its way to being able to land on the moon by the end of the decade. Also for the first time NASA felt comfortable that it was finally starting to beat the Russians in the space race. Looking ahead there would still be Gemini 8,9,10,11,12 missions before the Apollo missions would start which would get the US closer to its goal. However 1965 had been a great year for the US space program and everyone was looking forward to 1966. President Kennedy was extremely pleased at the progress he was seeing. Already some people at NASA where talking about trying to get to land on the Moon by the end of 1968. So they could land while Kennedy was still in office.
 
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Gemini-Part-2

February 28, 1966 St. Louis Missouri Lambert Field

John Young circled the airfield in a T-38 with Gene Cernan in the back seat. They were the backup crew for Gemini 9. The prime crew was a little ahead of them and they had lost sight of their T-38 during their first landing attempt. The airfield was fogged in and John didn’t like the conditions at all for landing. He had thought about diverting to a different airfield. They were traveling to the McDonnel Douglas plant which was where the Gemini Capsules where built. The plant was right next to the airfield they were attempting to land at. They were flying to the McDonnell plant to do 2-weeks of simulator training in rendezvous and docking procedures to prepare for the Gemini 9 mission. John was getting concerned because he couldn’t get a hold of the T-38 which carried the prime crew for Gemini 9, Elliot See and Charles Bassett on the radio.

After an hour of circling the airfield John and Gene where finally given permission to land and they were stunned to hear that the other T-38 had crashed and See and Bassett where killed in the crash. Later that night their boss, Deke Slayton called John and Gene and told them that the Gemini 9 flight was there’s and they were the Prime Crew now.

March 16, 1966 Earth Orbit - Gemini 8

James McDivitt the Command Pilot eased the Gemini 8 capsule towards the Agena target vehicle. If all went according to plan, Gemini 8 would achieve the first docking of two different spacecraft’s in orbit. After the docking it was planned that rookie Dave Scott would conduct an EVA. The Agena target vehicle would also be used to adjust the orbit of the Gemini 8 capsule. Using the radar on the Gemini capsule McDivitt slowly eased the capsule toward the Agena. He felt the capsule shudder as it docked to the Agena. Within a couple of minutes of docking McDivitt could feel the capsule rolling and the roll rate was increasing. There was no indication of what was causing the roll and they were out of communication with ground.

“Hey Dave we got a roll here and it is getting worse”
“I agree Jim, Do you think the Agena is causing the roll?”
“Let’s un-dock from the Agena Dave”
“Ok un-docking now” As Dave flips the switches to release the Gemini Capsule.
“Well Dave I think the roll is getting worse”
“Yeah Jim, my vision is starting to get affected. We need to get this under control before we blackout”
“Ok I am activating the Re-Entry control system and going to shut down the OAMS system. Dave we should be back in communication range with Houston try to raise them”
“Houston this is Gemini 8”
“Roger Gemini 8 this is Houston”
“Houston, we have had an issue with a stuck thruster and we had to shut down the OAMS system and activate the Re-entry control system”
“Roger that Gemini 8”

Jim Lovell, who was working CapCom looked around the room at Houston at the controllers who all looked startled at the news. They had just gotten back in communication with Gemini 8. As Gemini 8 orbited the Earth they lost communication periodically as the Capsule travelled in its orbit in-between ground stations. They had been out of range of any ground station for the last several minutes. All eyes then looked to the back of the room to flight director John Hodge.

“Ok people let’s try to figure out what is going on and what the next course of action is.” John directed to the room.
“Houston this is Gemini 8”
“Gemini 8 this is Houston”
“Houston, we were really rolling there for several minutes but we have got most of the roll stopped. Unfortunately we had to activate the Re-entry control system and we have used up almost 70% of the propellant. However things are a lot better than they were a couple of minutes ago”
“Roger that Gemini 8, let us get back to you on what the next course of action will be”
Lovell turned and looked at John.

John stood up “Ok with the re-entry control system activated mission rules dictate an abort. When is the next available landing zone? “
“Flight, we have a backup landing zone in the Pacific new Okinawa that we can use. They should probably stay up one more orbit then we can bring them back”

John nodded “Ok that sounds like a good plan, Jim update the Gemini 8 crew”
After the next orbit Gemini 8 landed in a backup landing site in the Pacific Ocean. NASA had just survived its first emergency in space. It was later discovered by looking at telemetry that the crew had come within a couple of seconds of blacking out from the roll. However McDivitt stayed calm and despite being out of touch with Houston was able to quickly identify the issue and stop the roll. It would later be determined that a stuck thruster on the OAMS had caused the roll.

April 4, 1966 - NASA Space Center in Houston

“Look Deke this EVA for Gene is really ambitious. We want him to traverse to the back of the Gemini Capsule strap himself into an Air Force Maneuvering Unit to then to use this unit to fly around outside the capsule with no umbilical. I know from experience that working in zero-G is a lot more difficult than we think.” Gemini 9 commander John Young looked at Deke.
“Ok John what do you think we should do? We need to test this Maneuvering unit for the Air Force for their up-coming MOL program.”
“Deke, we need to modify the training and we need to look at the hand-holds on the outside of the capsule. We should also at doing some EVA training under water. Based on my experience in EVA from Gemini 6 I think that under water training could be useful.”
“Look John I am not going to have Gene go off and play aqua-man in a pool practicing for Zero-G. It just doesn’t make any sense to me that working under-water equals what someone will experience working in Zero-G.”
“I respectfully disagree based on my flight experience Deke. I also think the EVA plan is too ambitious. Gene will not say anything but as the mission commander I have my concerns with all the tasks that need to be completed during the EVA’s.”

Deke sighed “John I do trust your judgment but we are under a lot of pressure to get the Gemini program wrapped up by the end of this year and start on the Apollo program, plus the Air Force wants us to test this equipment for the MOL program. You guys still have a lot of training to get completed before the May 17 launch date. Ok John let me talk to Director Gilruth about this.”
“Thanks Deke, I just want to get my concerns heard.”
John nodded his head and got up and left Deke’s office.

April 4, 1966 NASA Space Center in Houston – Director Robert R. Gilruth office

“Do you really agree with John’s assessment Deke of the EVA plan?” Director Gilruth asked
“Well Robert, John is one of the two people with actual EVA time. Unlike Ed he actually did a significant amount of activity outside and had specific objectives. If he says that the EVA is too ambitious then the EVA is probably too ambitious. I really think we need to look at how we do the training. Some of the astronauts have come to me with the idea of doing more underwater training for the EVA’s. Some people think that this could possibly be a good simulation of how it is to work in Zero-G. I am not really convinced but I have never tried to spacewalk before.”

“Well I do agree that we are missing something in the training. John’s EVA was relatively successful but he did run into a lot of challenges that we originally hadn’t anticipated. An astronaut doing an EVA shouldn’t be running into a lot of new challenges during the EVA. If we ever want to effectively work in space. I have been reading a report on some work that a group called Environmental Research Associates is doing in Maryland. They have been doing some research for Langley and some of their techniques of using water to simulate space are interesting and I agree with John, a second look at underwater training would be useful.”

“Ok Robert but what about the flight schedule? Right now we are looking at possibly getting Apollo 1 up by the end of this year and we still got 4 more Gemini flights.”
“Well Deke I don’t really think Apollo 1 is going to get into orbit in 1966, that vehicle is just too complicated. Let’s do this, let’s eliminate the Air Force Maneuvering Unit from Gemini 9. We will push it back to Gemini 12 and Let Aldrin really do some intensive training in EVA using the underwater training and figure out how to best work with the Maneuvering unit. Let’s simplify the EVA for Gemini 9”
“Ok Robert you are the program manager.”

“Yeah I am. However I am not looking forward to that phone call with the Air Force telling them they are going to have to wait to get their maneuvering unit tested.



On May 17 1966 the Agena Target Vehicle for Gemini 9 was launched on an Atlas booster from Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and for the first 2 minutes of the flight everything went fine. Then one of the Atlas booster engines gimbaled hard over and the entire booster took a nose dive back towards its launch pad. The booster engines then cut off and the entire rocket fell into the Atlantic Ocean. NASA had suffered another failure in an Agena launch. However this time it was an issue with the booster and not the Agena vehicle itself. When Gemini 7 had the Agena issue last year NASA had come up with an alternative to the full Agena vehicle to practice rendezvous. It was an Agena docking port with a control section from a Gemini vehicle. This created a simple vehicle called an ATDA (Automated Targeted Docking Vehicle) that could be flown using already flight tested hardware. With the destruction of the Agena target vehicle for Gemini 9 the decision was made to launch the ATDA.

On June 1 1966 John Young and Gene Cernan where strapped into the Gemini
Capsule waiting for the launch of the ATDA by the Atlas booster. Unlike in May the Atlas booster successfully placed the ATDA in Earth Orbit. However this time the Cape Ground control launch equipment had issues communicating with the Gemini capsule. Since the launch window was only 40 seconds long by the time the issue was corrected the launch window had been missed. NASA decided to delay the flight 48-hours. In the meantime after the ATDA achieved orbit it was determined that the shroud covering the docking port hadn’t fully released. It was finally decided that Gemini 9 would go ahead and launch and they would rendezvous with the ATDA and just go ahead and see what condition it was in and if a docking could still be attempted.

On June 3rd, Gemini 9 finally lifted off the ground and made into orbit. Once in orbit it was found that the shroud around the docking adapter had not fully released and the shroud was covering the docking port. Cernan described the ATDA as looking like an angry alligator. Over the next 3-days of the mission Cernan would conduct 2 successful EVA’s that built on the techniques that Young had used on Gemini 6. Young practiced rendezvousing with the ATDA without actually docking with it. Overall Gemini 9 was successful mission and racked up more EVA time. However actual using the Agena to change orbits still alluded the NASA space program. Hopefully Gemini 10 would fix this.
Gemini 10 lifted off on July 18, 1966 with two rookies, Command Pilot Neil Armstrong and Pilot Michel Collins. Collins was scheduled to conduct two EVA’s and they would also use the Agena Target vehicle to change their orbit. This time the Agena got into orbit without issue. The capsule successfully docked with the Agena target vehicle. Armstrong and Collins used the Agena target vehicle to change their orbit to 294x763 km which set a new altitude record. Over the next 3-days the mission achieved all of its major objectives and was without any major mishaps.

In September Gemini 11 lifted off with Pete Conrad as the Command Pilot and Richard Gordon. They also docked with an Agena Target vehicle and used it to boost them to an orbit of 288x1370 km and broke the altitude record from Gemini 10. Gemini 11 also conducted an experiment where Gemini 11 capsule was tethered to the Agena by a 30 m tether and they were able to generate a small amount of artificial gravity by using their thrusters to slowly rotate the craft. During the 3-day mission Gordon performed two EVA’s. However during the first EVA he found that trying to do work over an extended amount of time proved to be more fatiguing than in ground simulations and the EVA was terminated after only 30mins. The 2nd EVA was more successful since it only involved standing up in the hatch and taking photographs.

The final Gemini mission, Gemini 12 was launched in November 1966. The command pilot was Tom Stafford and the pilot was Edwin “Buzz’ Aldrin. Aldrin was the first astronaut to conducted extensive training for EVA by using under water training. Over the 4-day mission Aldrin had a total of 3 EVA’s scheduled. He also was used and tested the Air Force MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) which was originally scheduled for Gemini 9. The extensive under water training was very helpful during the EVA’s and despite a busy schedule Aldrin never got extensively fatigued despite conducting EVA’s of over 4-hours in duration where new records for EVA durations. During the 2nd EVA, he used the MMU to take himself out a 100 meters from the Gemini 12 spacecraft completely un-tethered. The only major issue for the mission was the Agena vehicle. A malfunction with the vehicle made it so the rocket engine on the Agena couldn’t be safely started. However this was the only major issue for the Gemini 12 mission. The last Gemini mission was concluded and the first Apollo program missions would soon start. However not all was going well for Project Apollo.
 
Connally's death...

Connally dying means that the Sharpstown scandal is avoided and the Texas Democrats remain in power longer (Preston Smith becomes governor five years earlier).

That is...interesting.
 
Apollo - Part-1

November 28th 1966, Cape Canaveral - Florida

“What the fuck do you mean you cannot fix it?” Al Shepard’s eyes bore into the Engineer from North American
“Well Mr. Shepard, Sir we are still waiting for the replacement part from Downey” The Engineer stammered.
“Well that is fucking un-acceptable. We are supposed to be getting this spacecraft to fly in February and how is it going to be able to fly if the parts we need are in Downey?”
The engineer at this point stammered “I will contact my boss again and get the parts that we need ASAP”
“Well you better do that” Al Shepard stared at the engineer “Get moving so we get this spacecraft fixed. We cannot go the Moon if we are waiting for parts from Downey now can we?”
The North American engineer quickly left the room before Shepard changed his mind. He had heard about Shepard’s anger and piercing glare but that was the first time he had experienced it and he didn’t want to have that experience again anytime soon.
Al turned around and looked at his other two crew mates, astronaut Ed White who was the first American to walk in space during Gemini 4 and rookie astronaut Roger Chaffee.
“Can you believe that crap?” Al paused and pointed at the Capsule for Apollo 1 “We are waiting for parts from Downey!”
Roger being the rookie wasn’t really sure what to say and decided that he should just keep his mouth shut so he just looked over at Ed.
“Yes Al, Capsule 12 isn’t in good shape at all, and at this rate the capsule for Apollo 2 is going to be ready to fly before we get off the pad” Ed remarked to Al
Al laughed “Well if that slacker Grissom things he is going to get his capsule into space before me he has another thing coming. Seriously this Capsule isn’t looking good. I was going over the capsule again yesterday and I am not real happy with the wiring job that I am seeing. I really think we are not going to launch in February. North American doesn’t have this capsule ready. I am going to talk to Deke and see what he has to say”

November 30th 1966, NASA Space Center Houston Deke Slayton’s office

“Deke that capsule just isn’t ready. The capsule is a mess. North American is working hard but I have seen this before in new Aircraft and rushing them to the flight line. Somebody is going to get killed and I am not going to get killed because of stupidity and rushing a first flight.” Al paused and looked across at Deke as he puffed on his cigar.
Deke sighed “Is it that bad Al?”
“Yes it is Deke that bad. The wiring is a mess, the hatch design is bad, overall I am concerned about the build quality and North American is behind schedule. I think somebody is going to make a mistake. I really don’t understand why we are pressing this hard. The block 1 module cannot even be used to dock with the Lunar Module which isn’t going to be ready until later in 68 anyway. We are pressing to fly this spacecraft in February of next year and the hardware is just not ready. I want to get to the moon before the Russians just as much as anyone but we are not ready to fly to the moon in 67. I personally think the decision to go with North American was a bad one for the Capsule manufacturer. McDonnell did a fine job with both the Mercury and Gemini Capsule and I have no idea why we switched manufacturers like that. However it is a done deal now and we just have to work with it.”
Deke looked at Al as he puffed on his cigar “I know everything is rush, right now but this goes away above my pay-grade and goes all the way to the top. From what I heard there is a push by Senior NASA Leadership to land on the Moon by the end of 1968 so we can accomplish the moon landing while Kennedy is still in office. “
Al looked over at Deke “Well Deke I am not going to get killed just so somebody in NASA leadership can score points and get men on the moon while Kennedy is still in office. I also suspect that if Kennedy found out that he wouldn’t be happy”
“Well Al what do you want me to do? Call the President?” Deke threw his hands up
“No Deke, we will both call the President if it comes down to it. I am sure if I called the White House and told them that Al Shepard wants to talk to the President that I bet somebody would get the President on the phone for me” Al looked at the telephone on Deke’s desk.
Deke looked at Al looking at the phone and realized how serious and pissed off his friend was “You are that serious Al?”
“I am dead serious Deke, either things slow down and we get this Command Module properly fixed or I will call the President and if that doesn’t work I will resign from the program and then I will really open my mouth up. I am not going to die because we were rushing and somebody made a mistake.”
“Ok you are really serious. Before you start picking up the phone and calling the White House let me make a few phone calls and see if I can get a meeting setup.”

December 1st 1966 – Samuel Phillips Office – Director of Apollo program

“Deke, how can I help you?”
“Thank you for seeing me so quickly General, I need to talk to you about a situation with the Apollo spacecraft for Apollo 1.”
“Well Deke I figured it would be important when you asked to speak with me in person. So what is wrong with the spacecraft?”
“General a lot is wrong with it. I thought I would come to you since as a military man you would realize how much of a potential cluster fuck we currently are dealing with. North American is rushing to get the capsule ready and they are rushing too much because of all the pressure coming from senior management at NASA. Capsule in its current state should never have left Downey for the Cape. The wiring is a mess, the hatch design is a big potential issue and I got a very pissed of Shepard who has told me that he would rather resign than fly the spacecraft as it currently is. I wanted to come and talk directly to you about this. Both Al and I feel that we are really rushing things when we don’t need to, the Lunar Module isn’t close to being ready and there is no good reason to push things this hard. We are concerned that someone is pushing to get a landing in 68 while Kennedy is still in office and we are pushing things so hard that someone is going to get killed.” Deke paused and looked at Phillips.
“Wow Deke, I didn’t realize things where this serious with the Capsule. I have been concerned about North American and their procedures for a while in both their work on the Apollo Capsule and the work on the S-II stage. I have seen some very shoddy work and procedures from North America and I am not happy. I even did a report on the issues last year at the request of Mueller but I really don’t think the report had the impact that it should have with either North American or with Webb.”
“Really, you did a report about North American, last year? I would like to see that report if you can get me a copy. “
“I will make sure to get you a copy Deke.”
“This is what I will do, I will come to the Cape next week and meet with Al and you and we can both take a look at CSM-012 and see what the hell is going on.”
“Fair enough General.”
“Deke, I will make sure to get that report to you. I agree with you that we are pushing things to hard and if we are not careful somebody is going to get killed.”
“Thanks General for listening to my concerns, see you next week”

December 5th, 1966 – NASA Space Center – Houston – Monday Astronaut meeting

“Are you serious Al?” Gus asked Al with concern in his voice.
“I am very serious Gus, the 12 capsule is a mess. I know 14 which is for your mission is looking better. However overall things are not looking good. At this point I don’t see how we can fly in February. Really there is no reason to fly in February. We need to give North American more time to get its act together. However I need all of your support. We need to show the senior leadership at NASA that we as the astronauts need to be taken seriously when we have concerns about the space craft we are being asked to fly. We all accept risks being astronauts but I am not going to die because we decided to rush an aircraft into first flight before it is ready. Does everyone agree with me?”
Al looked around the table. He made eye contact with the Mercury 7 that were still here, Gus, Gordo and Wally. He also looked at the New Nine Armstrong, Borman, Conrad, Lovell, McDivitt, Stafford, White and Young. He was just about to put himself out there on the line and he wanted to see if he could count on the rest of the astronauts to back him up.
“I told Deke that if this doesn’t get fixed that I am going to resign. Can I count on you guys to back me up?”
“Seriously, you would resign Al?” Frank Borman asked Al with a surprised look on his face.
“Yes Frank resign. I know what you are thinking that we defying orders but we are not. NASA is a civilian organization and we don’t need to put ourselves in un-necessary risk because some NASA bureaucrats want to rush things. So are you guys going to back me up? Seriously without experienced astronauts we are not going to the moon.”
“We are behind you all the way Al” Pete Conrad spoke up and looked at his fellow astronauts.
Slowly around the table Al did see head nodding.
“Well if Pete thinks it is a good idea you got me to Al” Dick Gordon spoke up from the 3rd astronaut group.
Members from the 4th and 5th astronaut groups looked at each. They were still really new and where not sure exactly how they fit in, no one from these groups had flown a mission yet. The scientists from the 4th group still felt like outsiders looking in on this test pilot fraternity. However they did see what was happening and they knew that is Al Shepard was concerned then they should also be concerned. They didn’t want to get killed because somebody in a Suit and tie decided to rush things. Also left unsaid, no one wanted to cross Al Shepard. He was good friends with Deke Slayton who choose the astronaut assignments and crossing Al Shepard was going to be a very un-favorable event for your career.
“You also have or support Al.” Owen Garriot finally spoke up.
“Thank you guys, you have no idea how much this means to me knowing I have all your support in this” Al paused for a second and looked around. “Now let’s get back to work, we still have a lot of training to accomplish.

December 6th 1966, Cape Canaveral - Florida

Al was kind of stunned. He didn’t expect to see General Phillips at the Cape to inspect the capsule with Deke. His talk with Deke must have had the desired effect. Amazing what can happen when you start threatening to pick up the phone and call the president.
“How are you doing Al?” Phillips reached out and shook Al Shepard’s hand.
“I am doing great General. I would like you to meet my crew Ed White and Roger Chaffee.”
General Phillips shook both Ed and Roger’s hands. “Great to meet you both”
“So Al show me around this capsule that has you so concerned”
“Well general let’s start off with the hatch, it isn’t an explosive hatch and it opens inward. I am concerned in an emergency about getting out of this thing quickly. When you need to get out of aircraft in a hurry, seconds count. Now if you duck down here and swing yourself in let’s get into the capsule and look inside”
Al could see several North American employees standing around nervously. Deke had not told anyone at North American that General Phillips was coming today. He could see that as soon as the General arrived one of the employees quickly left the clean room and he assumed a phone call was being placed to Downey.
“General do you see this wiring all over the place in here?”
General Phillips had a look of disgust when he got into the capsule and did see the mess of wiring inside, he wondered if any of it was documented all the changes that where happening. This wasn’t a flight ready spacecraft.
“I do see the wiring Al and while I am not an engineer it doesn’t look good. Look at this wiring over here going behind this panel. It isn’t even properly secured.”
The general looked at the panel and then had an idea.
“Al can you get me socket wrench I want to look behind this panel here.”
“Sure thing General, Deke can you pass in a socket wrench”
All of a sudden a North American engineer appeared outside the capsule hatch.
“Mr Phillips, I am not sure if I am authorized to allow you to be opening up panels like that.”
General Phillips Eyes turned hard as he looked at the Engineer.
“This is a NASA Spacecraft and I can open any panel I choose to” General Phillips barked at the engineer as Deke passed a wrench to the General.
General Phillips and Al worked at removing the panel to further inspect wiring. What they next found stunned them both. Phillips couldn’t believe what he just found behind this panel.
“Deke, get me a camera now!!” General Phillips barked out.
“Yes, Sir” Deke worked quickly to secure a camera for the General.
Both Al and Phillips looked at each other. “Well general if we would have taken this craft into zero-G with that wrench behind this panel. That could have really caused some serious issues on a mission.”
“Yes Al, but more importantly to me is it just drives home the point that North American has overall poor procedures. We cannot tolerate such sloppiness in tool control in a spacecraft.”
Deke just arrived back with a camera and poked his head inside to see what was causing all the fuss.
“Thanks Deke” Al took the camera and proceeded to shoot a serious of pictures of the socket wrench and how it was found by behind a panel.
General Phillips picked up the socket wrench and looked over it and found engraved on it “Property of North American Aviation”. He then took the socket wrench and dropped it in his pocket.
He looked over at Al. “I am going to shove this wrench up North American’s Ass. This spacecraft is now-where near being ready. List out your concerns and we are going to send this space-craft back to Downey so it can be sorted out and properly fixed.”
 
Apollo - Part 2

Tuesday, December 6th, 1966 - NASA Space Center Houston- Joseph Shea’s office – Head of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office

“You did what General?” Joseph Shea couldn’t believe what he was hearing on the phone
“Shepard is right, Capsule 12 is a lemon and it is going to kill someone. I told North American to send the entire capsule back to Downey to fix the thing properly. I just got done inspecting the Capsule at the Cape and I am on my way to Houston”
“General, you cannot do that. We have a schedule to keep. This isn’t the military. We need to have a meeting to discuss these types of actions before any decisions are made.”
“Shea, I have made my decision. I will be in Houston in a couple of hours to discuss this further with Mueller, Gilruth, Low and you. I will then tell you why my decision was the correct one.”
“Well Phillips I will be here waiting” Shea slammed the phone down.
What the hell happened? Why was Phillips even at the Cape? Who was with him at the Cape? He needed to find out what was going on quickly. He was not going to let Phillips run right over his office. There where procedures that needed to be followed before any decisions are made. Meetings needed to be held to go over any relevant facts before a decision was reached through consensus. One person just doesn’t decide to un-laterally change things like this. He was the manager of the Apollo spacecraft program office not Phillips. Yeah, Phillips was the director of the Apollo Program office and he reported to him. However he was still responsible for that Spacecraft and Phillips should have talked with him first. He should have told him been informed that Phillips was going to inspect the Command Module 12 capsule. He was beyond upset at this intrusion into his team and he wasn’t going to let it stand.
He had a suspicion who had started this fiasco and it begin and ended with Al Shepard. He wasn’t going to let an astronaut do an end run around him. Al Shepard was a real Ass, he had been bitching about the capsule for several months and he couldn’t make him happy. Well he wasn’t going sit around and put up with this. He was the manager of Apollo Spacecraft program office and decisions about the Apollo spacecraft go through him first. If they didn’t like it they could hit the road. There were plenty of astronauts looking for a shoot at landing on the moon. He was going to talk to George Mueller about this right now. If Al couldn’t handle the Apollo Spacecraft then he was going to get one that could. He hadn’t heard one complaint out of Gus who was going to fly the second mission of the Block 1 spacecraft. Maybe he could replace Al with Gus?

Tuesday, December 6th, 1966 – NASA Space Center Houston – George Low’s office – Deputy Center Director

"Come on in Joe, what can I do for you?”
“Well George I am a little upset at Mr. Phillips right now. Apparently he went to the Cape today and inspected the Apollo 1 capsule and decided that it wasn’t fit for flight and has unilaterally made the decision that North American needs to take the entire capsule back to Downey.”
“Yes Joe I heard about that and I wondered if you would be a little upset that Phillips hadn’t consulted with you first. He called me and asked me to setup a meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation. I told him that I thought he was being a little rash. However he told me that if he did see what he had seen today that I would be doing the same thing as him. I know Phillips just ran right over you in this decision but we didn’t bring in Phillips as the Apollo Program director to make everyone happy.”
“You got to be kidding me George. This isn’t how we do business at NASA. I have to tell you, Al Shepard is exaggerating what is wrong with the 12 Capsule. I have been keeping close eyes on the capsule and North American is making significant progress and things are coming along well. Of course there are issues but the Apollo Capsule is really complicated machine.”
“I hear you Joe. Phillips and Shepard are currently in a T-38 flying here as we speak from the Cape. Once they get here we will have a meeting and we can all sit down and discuss this. If Phillips doesn’t have some good reasons we can revisit his decision. Fair enough Joe?”
Joseph Shea nodded his head.
“Ok we are probably going to meet late this afternoon to discuss this further and see where we are at.”

Tuesday, December 6th, 1966 – NASA Space Center Houston –Robert Gilruth’s office– Director of manned spaceflight systems

“Thank you all for making this meeting on such short notice.” General Samuel Phillips sat down. He looked around the meeting table. He could see Joseph Shea was barely containing his temper. He didn’t blame him but if he had been doing his job then all of this wouldn’t have been necessary. Looking around the table he could see George Mueller (Head of the Office of Manned Space flight), George Low (Deputy Center Director) and Robert Gilruth (Director of manned spaceflight systems). Sitting right next to him was Al Shepard. Just then the door opened and Deke Slayton came in and handed Phillips a folder with some recently developed pictures in them.
General Phillips then spent the next hour laying out all the issues with Capsule 12 including the socket wrench left inside of a panel. As he spoke he could he could see Joe Shea getting more and more upset with him. Finally he could no longer contain himself.
“Mr. Phillips I know you have a lot of concerns but I think that North American can fix the issues at the Cape and get this back on track for February 21 launch next year. If Al has so many concerns maybe we should swap out commanders. I am sure that Gus would have no problem flight testing number 12 capsule.” Shea sat back, he could see Al Shepard staring at him from across the table. Well he was not intimidated by the Shepard glare.
Deke cleared his throat. “Actually Mr. Shea I talked to Gus and he agrees with Al as to the extent of the problems with Capsule 12 and if Al doesn’t feel comfortable flying it then he doesn’t feel comfortable.”
Shea face visibly turned red “What do you mean that Gus will not take command of Apollo 1? If that is the case we will just need to find another astronaut that has the balls to test flight this capsule.” Shea was hoping to get a reaction out of Shepard but he just remained perfectly calm and was staring at him. It was Deke Slayton who got very upset.
“Mr. Shea, how dare you call my astronauts cowards like that! These are some of the best pilots in the United States and if they don’t have confidence in the vehicle then nobody is going to fly it. I am not going to let anybody fly it that works for me. You understand?”
“Gentleman lets calm down now.” Robert Gilruth finally spoke. He had been quiet this entire time during the briefing. “General you have brought up some very good points and I can see why you are so concerned and Al is so concerned. I feel that you made the correct decision.”
At this point Shea lost his temper “I am head of the Apollo spacecraft program office and I am not going to be run over like this.”
“Joe nobody is trying to run you over” Gilruth spoke hoping to calm Shea down. “Let’s break for the night. I am going to talk to Webb and we will discuss some course of actions. It will take several days for North American to get capsule 12 packaged up and ready for shipment to Downey anyway. Let’s let them continue with this preparation. We are also going to need to do some type of press release on this. Ok? Thank you everyone for coming to the meeting. “
Everyone got up to leave. “George, can you stay behind for a couple of minutes?”
“What do you think George?”
“I think the entire situation should have been never have gotten this bad. It sounds like we could be having a near mutiny in the astronaut office. I think we are pushing too hard for launch in February. Shea could also be cracking under the pressure of the program schedule.”
“I agree George, Shea is cracking under the pressure and we need to exit him gracefully out of the way. Can you take over the Apollo spacecraft program and get it on track?”
“Sure thing Robert, wherever you need me.”
“Ok let me get back to you. I am going to call James tonight and tell him what is going on. We cannot let one word of this get out to the press until we can tell them exactly what they need to know. Also they can never find out about how bad this issue became and the near mutiny in the astronauts office.”
“I agree, we cannot afford to air or dirty laundry to the press. We need to come up with a coordinated plan and then be able to communicate the changes. “
“Thanks George I appreciate it, how about you stay for a couple of minutes and I am going to get Webb on the phone.
Over the next hour James Webb, George Mueller and Robert Gilruth had a frank discussion on the status of Apollo. They first of all agreed that without the Lunar Module being ready. There was no reason to push for a February launch since the lunar module wouldn’t be ready until the end of 1968 anyway for a manned test flight. It was decided that Apollo 1 launch would be pushed back to at least 6-months to allow more time. Also Apollo 1 would use Capsule 14 since it seemed to be in better condition. Apollo 2 would then use Capsule 12 with a launch in the first part of 1968. There was some discussions to canceling Apollo 2 but it was decided to keep the mission to give everyone more experience with the Command and Service Module. It was also agreed that as soon as possible Joe Shea would be offered a position in Washington DC and George Low would take over. James Webb would gather some talking points to take to the President to brief him on the changes before it was officially announced.

Saturday December 10th, Camp David

“Hello James, how are you doing?” A relaxed John F. Kennedy greeted James Webb as he entered the room.
“Thank you Mr. President, things are going good if a little hectic. Thank you for meeting with me so soon. I wanted to go over with you some changes in the Apollo program schedule before they are officially announced.”
“Well of course James, I always like talking about what is happening at NASA.”
“Well Mr. President. I want to hear it from me first. I don’t see any way at this point that we are going to be able to land on the moon before January 20th 1969. We are going to get it done in 1969 but we are pushing things as hard as we can and I don’t want to get someone hurt. “James could see the disappointment in Kennedy’s face. He know that Kennedy wanted to still be in office when the first landing was completed.
“James, I appreciate you be completely candid with me. I also agree that we need to make sure that we are not pushing things too hard and someone gets hurt. I trust your judgment on this. I know a major disaster in the Apollo program would give some Assholes in Congress ammunition to use against the Apollo program.”
“Mr. President, We are going to need to delay the first Apollo flight by at least 6-months maybe longer. The Command Capsule is a really complicated piece of machinery and we are struggling getting all the pieces together. The senior leadership at NASA including the mission commander Al Shepard agree that it is better to delay the flight than force things and maybe get someone killed.”
“Well James I was hoping that we would keep up the momentum after Gemini 12 landed but like I said I trust your judgment on this. Do you have a new launch date?”
“No not yet Mr. President but it will probably be no earlier than August. I wanted to touch base with you before we make an official press announcement.”
“Of course, James I appreciate you thinking ahead on this. Any updates on the Saturn V rocket?”
“Yes we are still on track for launch some time in later part of next year.”
“Please keep my office appraised as you firm up the launch date. If possible I would like to watch the launch from the Cape.”
“Of course Mr. President”
“James another thing. I know you are already working on what NASA is going to do after we land on the Moon with all this hardware we have developed. I don’t want to see us retreat from space after we land. We are not just planting the flag and coming back home. I want to see some serious plans to explore the moon over multiple missions, maybe even a lunar base. I have been doing some reading and the Saturn V rocket has some great potential for missions beyond Earth’s Orbit. Let’s not let all this developed hardware go to waste. I want you to come back to with a plan in 3 months for what we are going to do after Apollo and give me some options.”
“Yes Mr. President we can prepare some options for you on future space exploration beyond Apollo.”
“Thanks James, I do appreciate you being so honest. Being a president you are surrounded by a bunch of people kissing your ass all day. It is nice to deal with someone that will tell you things you don’t want to hear sometimes.”
“Thank your Mr. President, you enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
 
I find this fascinating. My knowledge of the space program is no where near as extensive as yours, but i'm glad Cunningham is getting a fair shot. I always thought that he got a bit screwed by NASA after OTL Apollo 7 and Schirra and Eisele's antics

Glad it's back. Keep it coming!!!
 

Archibald

Banned
Glad to see JFK and Grissom alive and well. Will the two shake hand aboard USS Hornet a certain day of July 1969 ?
 
I admit I skimmed a few parts

But I don't see anything addressing Alan Shepard's Ménière's disease, which grounded him in early 1964 in our timeline.
 
Glad to see JFK and Grissom alive and well. Will the two shake hand aboard USS Hornet a certain day of July 1969 ?

Al Shepard is the commander of Apollo 11 and Grissom is the Commander of Apollo 12. So it will be one of the two. However you will have to wait to find out who it actually is.
 
That was part of the POD. No Ménière's disease in 1964 for Shepard.

So you have two POD's here, right? The rain that forces the top on Kennedy's car to be deployed (saving him from being killed by Oswald's bullet), and Alan Shepard not suffering from Ménière's disease?
 
Is there not a mention of the Apollo Applications program? How will this fit in this TL? How about the chances of Scott Carpenter remaining in the corps in this TL and even working in AAP, which would be a perfect opportunity given his nature and experience. I always thought he got screwed by Chris Kraft following his Aurora 7 flight and he should have been given a second chance to redeem himself. I would love to see the look on Kraft's face if Deke and Al demand that Carpenter get a flight in AAP.
 
Is there not a mention of the Apollo Applications program? How will this fit in this TL? How about the chances of Scott Carpenter remaining in the corps in this TL and even working in AAP, which would be a perfect opportunity given his nature and experience. I always thought he got screwed by Chris Kraft following his Aurora 7 flight and he should have been given a second chance to redeem himself. I would love to see the look on Kraft's face if Deke and Al demand that Carpenter get a flight in AAP.
Not a chance. Not only had he burned a lot of bridges within NASA--and not just Kraft, though as bridges to burn go that's a biggie--but he also broke his arm heavily in 1963 in a way that, despite two surgical interventions, he was unable to regain flight status.
 
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