By Tom Norton
tom@wktv.org

It only lasted a few years; from 1961 to 1974, and then it was over. It shouldn’t have been, however. From Christopher Columbus’ tales of a world that was new to Europeans to the unrivaled imagery of American’s driving a car on the moon, very few things, if anything, captures the imagination of the common person and inspires whole nations to dream big, better and sometimes achieve those great big goals. 

Such was the Apollo Space Program, given a title here because it has the unique rank of being the biggest non-military effort by a nation in the history of human civilization.

Listen to “The Whole Picture Podcast on WKTV Journal on July 16, in honor of launch day 50 years ago. WKTV Journal Editor Tom Norton speaks with NASA Historian Glen Swanson, and local cultural anthropologist Deana Wiebel about the science, history, and effects of the Apollo mission 50 years later.

Without stepping into bumper sticker hyper-bole, facts lend themselves to the position that The Apollo Space Program was only possible because of the free, democratic society that while being messy, somehow succeed in getting the job done. Scientists argued and yelled with one another, rivalries existed, political factions developed and yet still, the unprecedented-in-human-history-technological-effort rolled slowly on to eventual success. None of it was guaranteed, in fact, much was still unknown and like Columbus, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the Vikings, and the Chinese, the idea of exploration captured imaginations of everyday people and in the case of Apollo, it became a very serious (and deadly) competition to be the first in what would be known as the race to the moon.

It all took place within nine short years and as much as being propelled by rocket fuel, the Apollo program was propelled by the quest to beat the Soviets to the moon. It was a race for bragging rights of epic proportions.  Looking back, one can only marvel at the ability of humankind to collectively focus on such a singular goal in such a short period of time that didn’t involve a national crisis such as World War II.

In the case of Apollo, what drove Americans higher, faster and further was the determination that our arch enemy at the time, Soviet Russia, was reaching for the same goal and we would be damned if they were going to get to the moon before we did. It was more than a contest, however. It was seen at the time, as a deadly serious effort to do everything, everywhere to stop the spread of communism by Russia.  The Soviets were using the propaganda of their own successes in space as a tool to promote communism to developing countries both in their hemisphere and the west and the feat of walking on the moon was considered propaganda of the first order.

During Apollo, this race and the mandate of an assassinated president contributed to what became known as “go fever.” It drove the American side of the moon race like a type of rocket fuel. Thousands of engineers and scientists took risks, signed off on methods and the push for results that eventually got ahead of safety. “Go fever” culminated in disaster when three astronauts chosen to be the first Apollo mission, Apollo 1; Grand Rapids native Roger Chaffee, Gus Grisholm and Ed White were killed in a fire inside the command module during a launch rehearsal test in January 1967. It set the program back 20 months. Apollo was down, but not out. The resolve of NASA intensified, the resolve of NASA to get it right, beat the Russians and do it within President John F. Kennedy’s deadline of “before the decade is out.”

Today we assume Kennedy’s mandate was an easy decision to make; a no brainer as in “of course we want to walk on the moon!” But it was far from that. The idea of walking on the moon in 1961 was arguably more foreign to the American mind in 1961 than the idea of walking on Mars is today. Nothing outside of science fiction had ever been seriously dreamt of and it was immediately apparent the extent of the technological challenge that lay before any nation that publicly announced such a goal.

 

Science Saves the Day

In 1961, NASA administrator James Webb was certain about one thing.: Going to the moon was going to take years. Years that would outlast political administrations. The drive to outperform the Russians couldn’t and wouldn’t be enough to sustain such a long haul technological effort. At that time, the pace the Russians were setting was impressive. They had already put men in space and now walked in space.

Webb knew that if this was merely about a race, the idea of doing something after the Russians had already done it probably would not sustain the effort. The administrator conveyed the concern of the agency’s technical and scientific community to Jerome Wiesner in May 1961, saying that “the most careful consideration must be given to the scientific and technological components of the total program and how to present the picture to the world and to our own nation of a program that has real value and validity and from which solid additions to knowledge can be made, even if every one of the specific so-called ‘spectacular’ flights or events are done after they have been accomplished by the Russians.” He asked that Wiesner help him “make sure that this component of solid, and yet imaginative, total scientific and technological value is built in.” 1

Here in essence, Webb is warning that the politics of going to moon may not last long enough for NASA to overcome the immense technological hurdles to make it happen. It appears he knew this immense goal required an unending stream of new inventions, systems and skills that heretofore simply didn’t exist. In a way, it’s like Columbus aiming to discover a new world without the first real ship even being developed. In Webb’s view it was vital that NASA capture the public’s imagination of the scientific advancements that will result from going to the moon and of course, beat the Russians while we’re at it.

 

The sheer volume of problems that needed to be solved by new inventions and all within a spanse of nine years is staggering. Neil Armstrong in an oral history stated   “I was certainly aware that this was a culmination of the work of 300,000 or 400,000 people over a decade and that the nation’s hopes and outward appearance largely rested on how the results came out.”  And as the years rolled on, the new inventions and developments that came out of the Gemini to Mercury to Apollo missions in those nine short years began to add up:

1. CAT scanner: this cancer-detecting technology was first used to find imperfections in space components.

2. Computer microchip: modern microchips descend from integrated circuits used in the Apollo Guidance Computer.

3. Cordless tools: power drills and vacuum cleaners use technology designed to drill for moon samples.

4. Ear thermometer: a camera-like lens that detects infrared energy we feel as heat was originally used to monitor the birth of stars.

5. Freeze-dried food: this reduces food weight and increases shelf life without sacrificing nutritional value.

6. Insulation: home insulation uses reflective material that protects spacecraft from radiation.

7. Invisible braces: teeth-straightening is less embarrassing thanks to transparent ceramic brace brackets made from spacecraft materials.

8. Joystick: this computer gaming device was first used on the Apollo Lunar Rover.

9. Memory foam: created for aircraft seats to soften landing, this foam, which returns to its original shape, is found in mattresses and shock absorbing helmets.

10. Satellite television: technology used to fix errors in spacecraft signals helps reduce scrambled pictures and sound in satellite television signals.

11. Scratch resistant lenses: astronaut helmet visor coating makes our spectacles ten times more scratch resistant.

12. Shoe insoles: athletic shoe companies adapted space boot designs to lessen impact by adding spring and ventilation.

13. Smoke detector: Nasa invented the first adjustable smoke detector with sensitivity levels to prevent false alarms.

14. Swimsuit: Nasa used the same principles that reduce drag in space to help create the world’s fastest swimsuit for Speedo, rejected by some professionals for giving an unfair advantage.

15. Water filter: domestic versions borrow a technique NASA pioneered to kill bacteria in water taken into space.

So the next time you hear that America can’t do this, or can’t do that; can’t create cars that don’t pollute, or build roads that last more than a few years; or solve this or that challenge because it will take another 50 years…

Just think of Apollo. America’s shining moment.

Credits:  1.  James E. Webb to Jerome B. Wiesner, 2 May 1961, NASA Historical Reference Collection.

Local Apollo 11 events:


Scavenger Hunt: The Grand Rapids Public Museum is hosting a scavenger hunt for four moon rocks. To join the fun, click here.


Remembering Apollo 11 – 50 Years Later: the GRPM and the Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association is hosting this event at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 20 at the Veen Observatory, 3308 Kissing Rock Ave., Lowell. NASA Historian Glen Swanson will be speaking at 6:30 and 8 p.m. on Michigan’s involvement in the great space race. The program is free.