Word: nasa
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Officials of the National Aeronauties and Space Administration (NASA) acknowledged the existence of the Chinese satellite soon after the announcement of its launching and stated that they were watching its progress closely...
...stunning news of Apollo 13's trouble first came from TIME'S Veteran NASA Reporter Jim Schefter, who had been called to Mission Control shortly after the initial explosion. That word, flashed to the editors in New York and other world-wide news organizations, set off comprehensive coverage of man's most perilous week in space. In Houston, observing an apparently routine mission, Science Writer Fred Golden immediately headed back to New York to prepare for a far different story. Science Correspondent Alan Anderson, also in Houston, quickly joined Bureau Chief Leo Janos and Schefter. Soon...
...itself. The countdown for the mission was about to begin when Astronaut Charles Duke, of the Apollo 13 back-up crew, complained of chills, fever and a rash. Doctors diagnosed his illness as rubella, or German measles. Duke had apparently caught the disease from the children of friends. Dismayed NASA officials immediately ordered blood tests of Apollo 13's first-line crew members, who had come in contact with Duke during several preflight conferences. Both Astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise were found to be immune to rubella. Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly was not; his blood lacked...
...NASA was faced with a painful choice. If Mattingly were allowed to go on the mission, he might well be disabled by the disease (which can blur vision and swell the joints in the hand), perhaps while alone in orbit around the moon. If the mission were delayed until the next practical launch date, May 9, the extra cost would be $800,000 and there might also be some deterioration of the Saturn systems. In contrast, there was the possibility of replacing Mattingly with his back-up crewman, John Swigert, who was found to have immunity against rubella. But Swigert...
Alone in Orbit. Against the objections of Lovell, who wanted to risk taking Mattingly along, NASA officials decided to put Swigert to the test. He was substituted for Mattingly in mission simulator tests and quickly proved that he was master of his assignment. So while a delighted Swigert lifted off from Cape Kennedy, a bitterly disappointed Mattingly watched from the Mission Control Center in Houston...