Word: swigert
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...ripples from that splash spread around the globe. For four days a fractured world inured to mass suffering and casual death had found common cause in the struggle to save three lives. The magic and mystery of space exploration, the realization that James Lovell, Fred Haise and John Swigert were not simply three Americans on a scientific mission but also humanity's envoys to the future, had served to bind men and nations in a rare moment of unity...
...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 had trained only with the back-up crew and there was doubt that he could properly coordinate with Lovell and Haise on such short notice. Said Astronaut Chief "Deke" Slayton: "It was sort of like trying to put Glenn Miller...
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...
...Swigert, too, will be left behind on Wednesday night, to orbit the moon in the command module Odyssey while Lovell and Haise make their scheduled descent in the lunar module Aquarius to land near Fra Mauro. Stopping 500 ft. or so west of their spacecraft on their first moon walk (see diagram), they will deploy a set of nuclear-powered experiments that should radio data to earth for at least a year. Their equipment will include two ingenious new devices to pry more secrets from the moon as well as the space around...
...three-James A. Lovell, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr., and Jack L. Swigert-fired the main engine of Aquarius, their moon lander...