Word: countdowns
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...challenging two-week adventure. Through the capsule's windows, they will see the flash and smoke of blastoff, then the approaching clouds, the indigo sky, and finally the star-speckled blackness of outer space. Later, as they view the looming surface of the moon, they will begin another countdown to launch a smaller detachable capsule for a lunar landing. Before the astronauts see earth again, their skill and nerves will be severely tested by instrument failures, pressure drops, misfiring retrorockets and unexpected heat waves...
...countdown went almost perfectly. At 8:04 a.m. (E.S.T.), just four minutes past schedule, the three main engines of Cooper's silvery Atlas thundered to life with lightning-white flame. There was never any doubt about the success of the launching, and as he soared into space, Gordon Cooper, the most reticent of the astronauts, was exultant. "Boy, this is beautiful," he radioed. "Boy oh boy. It looks that pretty. Boy oh boy." On the ground. Cape Communicator Schirra was also elated. "You got a real sweet trajectory, Gordo," he advised. "You're right smack...
...falling asleep during the lengthy physical checks. And he was equally unflappable last Tuesday morning when he crawled into his capsule atop an Atlas missile at Canaveral's Pad 14 and waited six hours on his contour couch-for a launch that did not come that day. The countdown was stalled for more than two hours, while some of the world's most brilliant electronics and computer experts cursed at the refusal of a simple, 275-h.p. diesel engine to start so that the servicing gantry could be rolled away from the poised missile. Although the diesel finally...
Landing the craft on his own, Cooper was coached from the ground by another astronaut John Glenn. The Faith 7 pilot remained in complete control until hitting the water, as nonchalant he had been earlier in the flight, when he almost fell asleep during the countdown, napped during his second orbit, and slept for around 7 1/2 hours during the night...
Like a Canaveral countdown, Canadian newspapers were counting off Lester Pearson's promised "60 days of decision." They were already two weeks along, and Canadians who suspected that Pearson would prove more effective as a Prime Minister than as a campaigner have so far been proved right. His new Cabinet met four times in the first week. Newsmen clogged the corridors scribbling furiously to catch all that was being said about new capital funds for regional development, new ideas to promote industry, new enthusiasm for tariff cutting in international trade. Buoyant and assured, he bounced on nationwide...