Word: orions
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Well, Orion is finally here, Houston. Fahn-taah-stick...
...miles of space last week, all the world breathed a sigh of relief. After a nerve-racking delay of nearly six hours, during which NASA officials came close to calling off Apollo 16's lunar landing, Astronauts Duke and John Young had brought the landing craft Orion to a nearly perfect touchdown only 200 yards off target in the moon's mountain-ringed Descartes region. It was man's fifth successful landing on the lunar surface, and the first in the highlands, the moon's oldest and most rugged terrain...
...moon. First, there were minor troubles -the mysterious flickering of a computer warning light, the mid-flight peeling of protective paint off the lunar module and the recalcitrant zipper on Young's space suit. Then, after the Apollo had gone into orbit around the moon and Orion, with Duke and Young aboard, had separated from Casper, came real cause for alarm...
...astronauts prepared to take a final spin on the lunar surface. It would take them north toward Smoky Mountain. Then, after stowing their rocks, film and other paraphernalia in the lunar module and positioning the rover's camera to televise the liftoff, Duke and Young were to fire Orion's upper stage engine and head for a reunion with Mattingly, orbiting overhead in Casper. Later, Casper's own powerful engine would be fired to hurl the command ship out of lunar orbit and start the three astronauts on their three-day journey home...
...second and longer moon ride will begin Friday, April 21, at 5:44 p.m., E.S.T. Heading south, the astronauts will travel up to 21 miles from Orion -as far as they could walk if the rover broke down. Again, they will frequently stop along their winding path to pick up geological samples. Finally, after reaching the bottom slopes of 1,600-ft. Stone Mountain, they will return to Orion for the night...