This space capsule went where Apollo 13 failed to go, the highlands around the lunar crater of Fra Mauro. After that it repeated what Apollo 13 did accomplish well, it brought its three astronauts home with a meteoric ride through the atmosphere to a safe landing in the ocean. Aboard this space craft were Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and Edgar Mitchell, both of which walked on the Moon. Also aboard was Stuart Roosa, the command module pilot who remained in orbit around the Moon until the other two returned.
Since I have a strong interest in astronomy, I have often been asked if I would like to go to the Moon or to Mars. To the Moon maybe, but definitely not Mars. I have lived in the frigid deserts of Wyoming, and that is a Garden of Eden compared to the frozen, lifeless desolation of Mars.
But to ride inside a space capsule through its meteoric flight of reentry, that would be a real adventure; watching darkness out the window turn blazing orange with thousand degree flames during a high-G deceleration, then seeing the flames diminish, replaced by the deep blue of the sky followed by the reassuring shock of the parachutes opening. Finally splashing into an undulating sea back on our good old Earth. Now that would really be something.
#apollo14 #alanshepard #edgarmitchell #stuartroosa #moon #mars #meteor
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