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Post by supermeerkat on Jan 11, 2011 20:06:52 GMT -4
Whilst reading the following Wikipedia article about Frank Borman, commander of Apollo 8: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_BormanI came across an unverified claim that Deke Slayton offered the chance of commanding the first Moon landing to attempt to Borman and then McDivvit, who both refused. I have never heard that claim before, Deke didn't mention it in his autobiography. McDivvit was at odds with Slayton and Shephard and stood very little chance of flying after 9. Does anyone have anything more on the subject? Also, any of the Apollo Commanders were certainly capable of making the first moon landing, but were there ever any serious contenders other than Armstrong / Conrad?
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Post by LunarOrbit on Jan 11, 2011 20:18:41 GMT -4
I've never heard that before either. The only other person that was considered (as far as I know) was Gus Grissom.
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Post by Obviousman on Jan 11, 2011 21:00:25 GMT -4
I have to check my sources again, but IIRC Borman was not actually offered the lunar landing but was considered a leading contender, along with Conrad. I believe Armstrong actually was third or fourth on the list.
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Post by supermeerkat on Jan 12, 2011 5:22:09 GMT -4
I believe Armstrong actually was third or fourth on the list. Didn't Armstrong only get the gig because of the swapping of Apollos 8 and 9 - Armstrong being the backup commander crew of 9, which was to have been the first circumlunar flight?
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Post by echnaton on Jan 12, 2011 11:28:51 GMT -4
IIRC, there was also a canceled mission to simulate the lunar landing from high earth orbit that was deemed unnecessary after the success of A9 check out of the LM. That decision brought the subsequent missions up one step by making A10 the lunar orbit test and A11 the landing mission.
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Bob B.
Bob the Excel Guru?
Posts: 3,072
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Post by Bob B. on Jan 12, 2011 11:49:34 GMT -4
IIRC, there was also a canceled mission to simulate the lunar landing from high earth orbit that was deemed unnecessary after the success of A9 check out of the LM. That decision brought the subsequent missions up one step by making A10 the lunar orbit test and A11 the landing mission. The canceled mission was the original mission of Apollo 8, which was the scheduled E-mission. Instead a new mission was inserted between the C-mission (Apollo 7) and the D-mission (Apollo 9). This new mission, which was the redesigned mission of Apollo 8, was designated a C-prime mission. The F-mission (Apollo 10) and G-mission (Apollo 11) remained in their same place in the queue. Manned missions as originally planned: C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J Manned missions as actually flown: C, C', D, F, G, H, J (The I-missions were incorporated into the J-missions.)
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Post by Glom on Jan 12, 2011 16:18:21 GMT -4
Wasn't Armstrong chosen because he was a civilian?
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Post by echnaton on Jan 12, 2011 16:28:43 GMT -4
Thanks for the info Bob than makes sense.
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Post by Obviousman on Jan 12, 2011 17:37:51 GMT -4
Wasn't Armstrong chosen because he was a civilian? Absolutely not. In discussions with the government after the crew announcement I believe someone noted that it was probably an advantage that he was, but it played absolutely no part in the selection process. If it had, Deke and about 90% of the Astronaut Office would have been highly offended.
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Post by Obviousman on Jan 12, 2011 17:38:55 GMT -4
IIRC, if the original rotation had stayed, Pete Conrad would have been first on the Moon.
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Bob B.
Bob the Excel Guru?
Posts: 3,072
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Post by Bob B. on Jan 12, 2011 19:07:18 GMT -4
Wasn't Armstrong chosen because he was a civilian? That's a myth, though it's a very commonly believed myth. I remember hearing it back at the time of the landing. I don't know how it got started, but it sure did propagate.
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Post by echnaton on Jan 12, 2011 19:09:24 GMT -4
IIRC, if the original rotation had stayed, Pete Conrad would have been first on the Moon. That's one small bleepen step for a bleepen man and a giant bleepen leap for bleepen mankind. Bleepen fantastic, bleep beep.
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Post by BertL on Jan 12, 2011 23:31:44 GMT -4
It's not from the first man, but... magnificent bleeping desolation.
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Post by Obviousman on Jan 13, 2011 4:48:06 GMT -4
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Post by Glom on Jan 13, 2011 8:22:48 GMT -4
Interesting. I see the trash talking about the Apollo 7 crew continues. Eisele's short career is attributed to Apollo 10 backup duty but Kranz said it was actually Captain Grouch's negative influence on him during Apollo 7 that did him in.
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