Word: astronaut
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...launch, five Marine helicopters had buzzed from her deck to stand by for his arrival. Their crews had trained for a year for this moment; they were experts at hovering over a Mercury capsule, snagging it with a giant, steel shepherd's crook and getting its astronaut on board quickly. One of the skilled crook handlers, Lieut. George Cox, had fished the Astrochimp Ham out of the drink last...
...water with a small splash, three miles away. Shepard had already asked by radio to be taken aboard; so Crook Wielder Cox got a line around the capsule, steadied it and lowered a horsecollar sling to lift Shepard to the chopper.* Safe in the cabin, the first U.S. astronaut exulted: "It's a beautiful day. Boy, what a ride...
...time in the tensest quarter-hour of his life, Alan Shepard could afford to forget the intricate complex of rescue gear that had been guarding his path from Pad 5 to U.S.S. Lake Champlain. Few men in history have been watched over so cautiously. Long before he blasted off, Astronaut Shepard had become the focus of a vast deployment of equipment and personnel. Everything imaginable had been done to ensure his safety...
...proofed Army personnel carrier stood by with a fire-suited crew. Some four miles from Pad 5, the headquarters of the Cape's Abort Rescue Team was a humming hive of activity. Six helicopters were tuning up, ready to carry skilled technicians, doctors and frogmen to rescue the astronaut if the capsule splashed near by. If the Freedom 7 should start to sink, frogmen would be ready to slip beneath it and inflate a raft to lift it to the surface. Army amphibious craft were ready to retrieve the capsule if it fell in the surf. Waiting...
...flotilla of six destroyers strung out along the range. Watching the range with sharp electronic eyes were the swarming radars of Cape Canaveral, and high overhead soared monstrous aircraft burdened with more radars. Neither money, men nor equipment had been spared to protect the life of U.S. Astronaut...