A tribute to Chris Kraft ’44

[00:00:09] >> To achieving the goals before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. People came to this program government people university people contractor people this source of human itll actual energy was Marshall focused challenge what came out of this effort was not just a very successful program but a rich national resource a vast proportion. [00:00:39] Project Mercury America's 1st manned space program lasted from 1958 than 1063 in the Mercury 7 test pilots all Scott Carpenter Gordon Cooper John Glenn Gus Grissom Wally Schirra Alan Shepard Jr and Dix like. Their task prove that man could fly into orbit around the earth and return live and well to talk about. [00:01:08] Gemini the bridge to Apollo used a more advanced vehicle carrying to. Its goals test the skills and Durrance of the astronauts practice the rendezvous and docking procedures and other maneuvers for the Moon Boy. Good morning Captain Ross right there in doing great but down the elevator. 5 Apollo 8 history's 1st manned flight to the vicinity of another celestial body. [00:01:47] And our on our. Air here and all I ever have a. Rocket right quality we got a crown you got a bike. The bad play we're bringing again. Right. Art I have. Every precious minute of their 2 and a half hours on the surface was programmed to rock and soil samples were to be collected photographs taken experiments set up to capture unfiltered particles in the sun and record quakes to measure precisely by laser beam reflection the exact distance between Moon and Earth. [00:02:37] And at what. Happened at our. Apollo 17 the last of the Apollo flights astronauts landed in the moon's tallest mountain region using the lunar rover they gathered 243 pounds of lunar samples. They brought back rocks but as Mike Collins later told a joint session of Congress it's a fair trade for just as the Rosetta Stone revealed the language of ancient Egypt so may these rocks unlock the mystery of the origin of the moon and indeed even of our earth and solar system. [00:03:21] Apollo sent a dozen Americans to roam the surface of the moon and 15 others to fly into the grasp of its one 6th gravity. They took the measure of the moon and in so doing took the measure of themselves and demonstrated the human potential. The facilities of Apollo now silent and still used to mission control the nerve center of manned flight operations the chapters of space history 1st Mercury and Gemini and Apollo were written by the people who set of these councils people such as Chris Craft.