Word: apollos
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Acquaintances recalled Wasik's traumatic reaction to the deaths of Astronauts Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee in the Apollo fire last January. Wasik wept, slashed his wrists, and at one point drove around Cape Kennedy pointing a pistol at his head...
Canova, one of the most celebrated sculptors of his day, known as "the new Phidias," had carved an earlier Perseus for a Milanese nobleman at his atelier in Rome. It was inspired by the celebrated 1st century Roman marble of Apollo Belvedere, which had recently been carried off from the Vatican by invading French soldiers. Pope Pius VII liked the new Canova so much that the Roman authorities refused to grant an export permit, and it was bought for the Vatican where it now stands. (The Apollo was also returned.) A Polish countess, Valeria Tarnowska, then commissioned a second Perseus...
This pushes Apollo to a critical launch-pad weight that is only 350 Ibs. under the Saturn 5's total lifting capacity for lunar missions. As a result, parts of Apollo's parachute system had to be enlarged or redesigned for safe landing at greater weight, and redundant systems on board have been eliminated for a weight reduction of 58 Ibs. Low hopes to peel 400 Ibs. more off Apollo by eliminating the spacecraft's lead ballast. So critical is the weight factor that even metal brackets inside Apollo are being examined for possible perforation to save...
...effect, the modifications have made Apollo a brand new spacecraft that will have to be tested for structural integrity, vibration characteristics during liftoff, and behavior in a vacuum before it can be requalified for flight. Such testing has pushed the initial launch date for the Apollo series to early summer of next year. But this winter the spacecraft will face its baptism by fire in Houston, when NASA engineers try to set a full-scale Apollo ablaze under varied atmospheric conditions...
While most attention has focused on preparations for the manned Apollo flight, last week NASA quietly proceeded with two other pioneering programs -the record-breaking test series of the X-15 and the XB-70, respectively the fastest and the heaviest supersonic aircraft in the world. Ironically, both planes were built by North American Aviation, Inc., the company that has borne much of the blame for the January spacecraft holocaust...