Word: apollos
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...example, the Apollo moon shot in July 1969 relied on computers at practically every stage of the operation. Before taking off, the astronauts used computerized simulations of the flight. The spacecraft was guided by a computer, which stored information about the gravitational fields of the sun and moon, and calculated the craft's position, speed and altitude. This computer, which determined the engines to be fired, and when, and for how long, took part of its own information from another computer on the ground. As the Apollo neared the moon, a computer triggered the firing of a descent rocket...
...drinking fountain, from which Angelica casually takes a sip. In the conclusion of the original, when Zoroastro calls for a potion, he receives it from the claws of an eagle descending out of the sky. Sellars's Zoroastro receives his potion in the claws of The Eagle--the Apollo 11 lunar module, that is. (In both cases, a printed synopsis of the opera lets the audience know the original scenario.) This sort of inventiveness does not constitute a groundbreaking reinterpretation of Handel, but it's a refreshing and cheerful Handel nonetheless...
Following the lead of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Bennett opts to develop the story line almost entirely in song, including operatic recitatives. The tale is rather like the saga of the Supremes' rise from Harlem's Apollo Theater to top-of-the-pop-charts renown, to gether with the emergence of Diana Ross...
...Still, a great deal of exaggeration has been built into the culture and, of course, the traditional home of exaggeration; politics. Ronald Reagan so far is not doing his part, however, in 1977, Jimmy Carter described the Shah's Iran as an island of stability." when the Apollo 11 astronauts returned from the moon, Richard Nixon declared, "This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation...
...rode its pillar of fire into the Florida skies, alarm lights flashed in the cockpit. It was the first hint of trouble in Columbia's electrical system, and soon fears arose that the spacecraft itself might be rocked by the same kind of explosion that nearly turned the Apollo 13 moon flight into a disaster. Mission controllers in Houston, who took technical command of Columbia 1 sec. off the pad, managed to ease the crisis by more of the improvised remote-control repair work that has saved the day in past emergencies. But one of Columbia's three...