Original subtitles

[John F. Kennedy] We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

Look at that.

That's beautiful.

It's got to be one of the most proud moments of my life. I guarantee you.

[man] The Avco Corporation in Lowell, Massachusetts,

employed about a dozen people, predominantly middle-aged women,

to pump a special epoxy resin by hand with caulking guns

into 380,000 one-inch-square holes

in the ablative heat shield of the Apollo command module.

If X-ray inspection showed a bubble in one of the cells,

they cleaned it out with a dental drill and tried again,

for their product had to work perfectly for all of six minutes

during the fiery reentry of the spacecraft

into the Earth's atmosphere at the end of the mission.

Anything less than perfection could mean the death of the crew.

So, it was up to these employees of the Avco Corporation

and hundreds of thousands just like them

at other companies in almost every state of the Union,

to deliver without fail the goods that would make possible

a voyage from the Earth to the moon.

[Kennedy] I believe that this nation

should commit itself to achieving the goal

of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.

[Ed White] We recognize there are unknowns

and things can happen that we haven't planned for.

People might look at our work as being perhaps dangerous or risky.

This is Walter Cronkite. Three astronauts have been killed.

Died tonight in a launchpad fire at Cape Canaveral...

A rehearsal of the countdown and launch of the Apollo 1 spacecraft.

Apollo astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died...

[man] Ready, aim, fire!

[rifle volley]

[man] Aim, fire!

Aim, fire.

[bugle plays taps]

Captain Walter Schirra salutes his fallen comrade, Virgil "Gus" Grissom,

in the first of three services held for the crew of Apollo 1,

who tragically died during a routine test on a launchpad.

Grissom and Roger Chaffee are being laid to rest here at Arlington Cemetery.

Edward White will be buried at West Point later today.

Schirra, commander of the backup crew for Apollo 1,

will be heading the next manned Apollo mission,

now scheduled for next October.

Yeah. That's good, don't you think?

- Pretty good. - Yeah.

What?

No. They're not gonna want us to start with this.

Truth.

Said to give us free rein, you know?

Yeah. Well, I'll believe that when I see it.

They've never let an outside crew in before, you know that?

Hell, they've got to let us in.

They got too much ridin' on this thing not to.

Gotta prove to the whole damn country they know what they're doin'.

Plus, you know, this mission fails, then it's over.

So, I think we'll be cool.

All right. But I still don't think we're gonna get the access you think.

Let's see what happens when we get there.

[man] Just tell me your name and what you do here.

Skip Chauvin.

I'm from the STC, the space-vehicle test conductor.

Ready here for primary ascent data transfer.

Stand by for transfer.

On my mark in three, two, one, mark.

Okay, this is just an introduction. Your name, what you do.

My name is Guenter Wendt. I am pad leader here at Cape Kennedy.

We've heard some people call you the "Pad Führer."

Yes, this is true. We like to joke around, you know?

We always try to keep it light when we're doing dangerous things.

One year, they gave me a Colonel Klink helmet.

[laughs] We have to joke around some, you know?

- [alarm blaring] - Okay, let's go!

Go, go, go, go, go, go!

Apollo 7, egress the spacecraft!

Apollo 7! Wally! Do you copy?

- [air hisses] - [urgent chatter]

The elevator's malfunctioning!

[panting]

I'm gettin' too old for this shit.

[men laughing]

Not so bad, gentlemen.

STC, this is the pad leader. Crew egress successful.

Roger that, Pad Leader. Time was four minutes and 40 seconds.

Better than I expected.

By the way, fellas,

this is my best side.

Cut.

The work you're doing is... It's very difficult work.

Very precise, very exacting work.

Very little margin for error. Perhaps none.

- Do you feel you're prepared this time? - Yes.

But can you ever really prepare for work that's this risky?

Well, of course. We drill. We drill the hell out of everything.

We drill and we drill until we know every step in our sleep,

and then we drill some more.

Guenter!

Pretty good acting. I thought the elevator really was broken.

- No, it's fine. - Join us on the slide wire next time.

I'm not a crazy person, Wally.

- We did pretty good there. - Ten seconds less from last time.

Very good!

That's fine.

Just as long as you line 'em up when we suit up.

- Ounce of prevention. - I got you.

[groans] Watch the shoulder.

Clyde, this left glove is feelin' awfully stiff.

Damn. This is the third connector ring seal we've gone through.

- I can't turn my wrist. - You're right. It's gotta move freely.

- Gotta be able to scratch my nuts. - I'll get it fixed, Captain.

Until that time, may I suggest you scratch them righty?

[crew laughing]

I got him.

All right! Go!

At the first sign of trouble, looks like the booster's gonna fail,

we get the hell outta the command module, and,

usually, they take us down the elevator.

The slide wire's just a backup.

That's a pretty cool ride.

If you like to feel your heart crawl up your throat.

Let me just... Why would you abort? What would cause you to abort?

Till we clear the tower, everything's pretty much up for grabs.

How do you mean?

There's 450 tons of liquid fuel underneath the command module.

- Wow. - Right next to us is a steel tower.

- We're right up against it, okay? - Right.

If the guidance software is this much off, we run into it.

- Wow. - If the booster fails,

if there's a premature ignition, any one of a dozen system failures,

it's a bad day for all of us.

- Amen to that. - Could we talk about somethin' else?

[laughing]

Miss O'Hara. Hi. Frank Burns. Nice to meet you.

They told you we were coming to ask a few questions, yeah?

- Is this a good time? - Yeah. Sure.

Just relax. We're just gonna ask a couple questions.

You rollin'?

Mark it.

Okay. Ready?

Okay. Just tell us about yourself. Who are you?

[clears throat] I'm Dee O'Hara, and I'm their nurse.

Okay.

Can you tell us about Captain Schirra at all?

Oh...

"Jolly Wally" is what we've always called him.

Always a jokester.

I'm sure you know about the tricks he's played on us.

No.

Well, he's got these "gotcha" games he always plays.

Like the time he dropped off his urine sample on my desk

in a five-gallon jar.

[laughing]

[Burns] That's good.

- Um, do you have a favorite astronaut? -[O'Hara] No.

[Burns] No? But you're pretty close to Captain Schirra, right?

[O'Hara] I've known all the Mercury astronauts

since the beginning of the program.

Would you say that Captain Schirra has lost

that famous sense of humor of his on this mission?

Well, everyone gets a little nervous before one of these things.

But I think Wally...

This'll be his third mission, after all.

I think he's pretty calm about it, or seems to be.

I do know that he got a little hot

when the mission planners were suggesting that the astronauts

have all their hair shaved from head to toe.

I'd have to get a gold earring if I was gonna look like Mr. Clean.

Oh, no, seriously, I just hinted to them that if the danger was such

that my own hair was going to be a hazard...

maybe I'd just as soon stay home.

We've already spoken with Captain Schirra.

He told us about the water-skiing incident.

We heard his side of the story. We thought we'd get yours.

- The water-skiin' thing? - Yeah.

Okay.

I mean, here we are, what? Less than a month before launch?

Walt's out hot-dogging on water skis.

Did he tell you that he nearly got canned on his Mercury flight

because he hurt himself water-skiing?

Someone's gonna bring up that I got myself in the same trouble on Mercury,

but the difference is that that was a freak accident.

I mean, Walt's problem is that...

he's never gonna be as good on skis as I am.

[laughs] Because I'm better.

Did he tell you the reason I took up water-skiin'

was because he didn't want me playin' handball?

Well, he was playing like a lunatic. I didn't want him to get hurt.

'Cause he was afraid I was gonna beat him.

[cackles]

- How am I doin'? - Just fine.

[man] ♪ Those fingers in my hair

♪ That sly, come-hither stare

♪ That strips my conscience bare It's witchcraft

And this is the biomed belt.

And this is the UCD, the urine collection device.

How's that work?

Well, the astronaut would attach...

Um... Never mind.

Why don't you tell them about the fecal containment system, Clyde?

[chuckling]

very adamant about that. So really stay ready.

Wait. Here he is now. This is Deke Slayton.

- Mr. Slayton. Hi. Frank Burns. - Oh, yes.

We spoke on the phone about doing an interview.

- You wanna do it now? - Is that okay?

- Okay. - Is it a good time?

Yeah, it's fine.

Why don't you just tell us what you do here. What's your job?

I'm director of flight crew operations here.

And what does that mean?

Basically, that means that I oversee all aspects of the missions

that pertain to the individual flight crew members, the astronauts.

Ah. Yeah.

We've been hearing a rumor around here

that Captain Schirra is thinking of retiring.

Have you heard that?

- You've heard that, huh? - Yeah.

- Yeah. I'm privy to that rumor. - What do you think about it?

Well, Wally Schirra is one of our best and most experienced astronauts,

and I'm sorry to lose him.

You were one of the Mercury Seven, one of the originals.

How's it feel to be retiring?

I'm okay with retirement.

I think a man should have some idea of his future before he turns 45.

- I'm gettin' pretty close to that mark. - It must make your wife happy.

This must've been tough on her all these years.

Jo? She's Navy, born and bred.

She knows the drill. She knows what we're doin' here.

That's not to say that this astronaut stuff has been easy for her.

It has not.

Mrs. Schirra, tell me, this must have been tough for you.

How have you two kept your marriage together for so long?

Well, I think the reason we've been married for so long

is because Wally's been away half the time. [laughs]

[laughing]

He walked into the house the other day, and I thought we were being robbed.

I almost called the cops.

- Oh! That's nice, missus. - It's true.

[laughing]

Very nice.

What the hell kind of bait are you usin', Deke?

Hey, it's not bait, Wally. That is pure skill.

That's skill? That's luck.

- Pure luck. - Yeah, yeah.

The fish is smaller than the bait.

[Slayton laughs]

That's enough, isn't it?

[Burns] Yeah, that's fine. Let's cut it.

We just need to get a wide shot, then we'll be done. Okay?

Be careful of the line. Thank you.

So you're gonna be doin' a lot of fishin', huh, Wally?

I'm retiring from NASA, Deke, not from life.

Not gonna sit on the porch and whittle. There are some business opportunities.

Hey, the time has come.

I'm a test pilot.

And after this, the testing will pretty much be done.

It's not as if I'm gonna make the big test. Right?

Not as if I'm goin' to the moon. Right, Deke?

Hey, you know, everyone thinks

that I got this big master plan for all the crews, but...

I don't.

People don't understand.

They look at Glenn and Carpenter and Gordo.

They think they're crazy for not stickin' around for Apollo.

But I know why they bailed out.

I have been completely devoured by this business.

- You know. - Oh, yeah.

But you're stayin'.

I don't know what else I'd do.

Ha!

Soon as they finish their little movie here, I gotta get goin'.

Got a fit-and-function test at noon.

I'll take it from here.

We haven't spoken with one of the least experienced of your crew, Eisele.

Donn Eisele. He's smart.

He's funny.

I love this one thing he says. He says, "I'm the navigator."

I've got the right to know where I'm goin'."

[laughs]

That's funny.

You got it?

- Got it. - You're sure you got film?

Okay.

You okay?

Hank, come over this way. Great. There you go.

We're speaking with Donn Eisele, CM pilot for Apollo 7.

You were supposed to be on the first Apollo crew.

- What happened? - Yeah, I had injured my shoulder

in the KC-135 training mission, you know, the Vomit Comet.

I guess.

Um... How'd you feel about the fire?

[sighs]

Um...

At first, I felt relief, to be perfectly honest.

I mean, you know, relief that it wasn't me. Uh...

But I think that's just kind of a natural reaction.

Then sadness, you know. It...

Losin' such good men. Really, just great men.

And then finally guilt.

Guilt?

Yeah. That I wasn't there, you know?

Like I should've been.

Some say that if you'd been around,

they wouldn't have lost Grissom and his crew in the fire.

No, that's not true at all.

The men on the pad did the best they could.

It was the design of the hatch, the 100-percent oxygen environment,

the wiring, a lot of little things.

It had nothing to do with the pad crew.

So you're confident you've solved enough of the problems to make this one safe?

Listen, fellas, we always wonder, "What are we missing here?

What little thing has slipped through the cracks here?"

We don't know, so...

We're staying on our toes.

- [man] Caught me at an awkward time. - [Burns] I understand.

Marcelo, can we go? You going? Let's go. Are you rolling?

Rolling? Okay, great.

So you and Captain Schirra have always gotten along?

[laughs] No. No.

I'd say, at the beginning, Wally and his crew were quite a pain in the butt.

John Healey and I were like two bantam roosters in a pit.

This is the most complicated machine I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty.

There are subsystems inside subsystems.

There's more cable than AT&T laid out in Manhattan.

We did not need a bunch of spacemen runnin' roughshod over the plant.

I told him, "Look, I'm a test pilot, I've got a degree in engineering",

I've been in space, and I'm in command of this mission."

There were critical deadlines.

Wally was demanding to be involved in every decision.

Did that surprise you, though, considering the Apollo 1 situation?

Wally and I went through what you might call a process.

You see, a pilot depends on his guys on the line.

Until we're in orbit, the most I can do is abort the mission. That's it.

We began to understand each other's needs.

Such as?

We all understand the astronauts' lives are in our hands.

We never forget that.

Ever.

[softly] That was great.

[Burns] I know this is a difficult question. It's inevitable, but...

Tell me about Apollo 1.

Apollo 1.

What can you say? It's all been said.

Well, you were the backup crew, right?

How did you find out?

We'd all done the full-up tests in the spacecraft the day before.

And we flew back to Houston the next afternoon, while...

Gus and Roger and Ed did the plugs-out tests.

We found out when we landed at Ellington.

You had spoken to Gus the day before the test

about the problems with the spacecraft.

Is that right?

Look, everyone knew there were problems with the spacecraft.

Gus knew it. I knew it. Everyone knew it.

But no one ever imagined...

what happened could happen.

How do you feel about it?

We're all test pilots.

We're accustomed to things going wrong at times.

You're sad. You mourn the loss.

But you don't wear the black armband forever.

This is the command module simulator.

People ask what it's gonna be like

being cooped up in a phone booth with two guys for 11 days.

Well, we've been in that thing for six months, and we've survived.

This is the lunar module simulator.

If our mission is successful...

the crews that are workin' in there right now...

go to the moon.

[Burns] Okay.

I just need to ask you a couple of questions about your pad crew. Um...

Guenter Wendt.

Wally Schirra put in a word for me after...

When his crew came on board.

I don't know if it's true,

but I heard they told him they'd give him anything to keep him happy.

They said, "Sure, Wally."

We'll give you a rubber piggy doll if it'll make you comfortable."

And I said, "Wrong."

They were missin' the point.

[laughs] I'm not a piggy doll.

But Wally Schirra is no fool. He knows damn well I'm hard-nosed.

Guenter is excellent at his job.

We're gonna need everyone to be excellent at their job

if we're gonna pull this mission off.

If this mission is successful, you feel confident you'll be going to the moon?

That you'll be going sometime soon?

We're gonna be playin' golf on the moon in the next ten years.

[laughs]

[slaps arm]

Been doin' a bunch of these around here. So...

All right. He's rollin' it? Okay.

This is Tim Messick, data specialist. Mark.

All right, Tim. Tell me how all this stuff works.

Oh, man.

This stuff is so complicated. You have no idea.

The problem is

just trying to fit all of this into a little bitty on board computer.

We've done it. The core-rope technology makes it possible.

But still, it's kinda like trying to fit a rhinoceros into a Volkswagen

and then hoping he knows how to drive.

You think NASA's bitten off a little more than it can chew again?

- Tried to do too much too fast? - [sighs]

Well, we don't have a choice. I mean...

- [switch clicks] - [beep]

Without an inertial guidance system, I mean, a sophisticated one

that can accurately navigate and control a lunar orbit

or reentry to Earth, we'll never make it.

I mean, you can't just throttle up,

point the nose of your aircraft and head thataway.

You know, you can't.

But Apollo 7's not going to the moon, right?

No, it's not.

What we're doing is shaking all the little bugs out of the system.

They'll be taking fixes on various stars and continents.

We'll get a chance to see if the computers can identify them

and then see if they can navigate with them.

- Sounds like a big job. - Uh, big job? It's an enormous job.

Maybe an impossible job.

Uh... It's gotta be successful, though,

or we're never leaving the Earth's orbit.

Good. That's great. You're a natural.

- Thanks. - Point right at the camera.

[Schirra] No. The important thing is that we get up,

prove that the spacecraft can work and get down again.

That's it, gentlemen. That's the mission, in my mind.

Anything else spells danger.

- So how can we help, Wally? - We've already got a full flight plan.

I got two rookies on board, seven major maneuvers, a new navigation computer.

This is a brand-new and very complex spacecraft.

Don't go crowdin' the flight plan with a lot of egghead experiments.

It's wild enough we're gonna broadcast live television, for Christ's sake.

Eleven days, Wally. That's a lot of time.

In Earth time, Deke.

You'd be surprised how fast everything goes up there.

I wanna keep things straightforward.

No deviations.

All right.

I'll review the requests,

and I'll take that into consideration when I make my recommendation.

Master Sergeant Russ Lawrence.

I'm a meteorologist with the 45th Weather Squadron.

Great.

Can you tell us about all this equipment you've got here? What's this all about?

Well, we're fortunate to have

the most sophisticated weather data-gathering tools available to us.

Our worldwide satellite system, for example.

We've had the TIROS system worldwide since '66.

And with that we can see local cloud changes on a 24-hour basis.

We now have our next-generation weather satellite. That's Nimbus 2.

And on top of that, we have our Doppler radar system,

and we have some of the finest meteorologists

that the air force has to offer right here on our base.

Ultimately, though,

the most important tool available to us for predicting the local weather is

this window.

Don, can we have the next slide up, please?

All in all, with the minor retrofitting we've just discussed,

we should have little difficulty adapting the Block 1 couches

to the Block 2 mounts.

- Hello, Wally. - Don't let me interrupt.

I'll be fascinated to hear why we're not using the new couches.

They won't be ready for 7. Sorry. There just isn't enough time.

I see.

And the old model here, the Block 1 couches...

How do they test on landing?

Shouldn't be any problem, provided we have a standard landing.

- Meaning an ocean landing. - Yeah, that's right.

Okay.

What are the stats on a land landing?

If there's a launch abort, and the winds are strong enough,

we could be blown back onto land.

The stats aren't too good on that, I'm afraid. I suspect you know that.

Indeed I do.

We need a mission rule on the winds.

What kind of a rule?

We don't launch unless the winds are favorable.

[sighs]

All right, Wally.

You would scrub the mission for the wind?

A landing on actual land could be dangerous.

[Burns] What do you mean?

Picture this.

In an abort on the pad,

a mini rocket yanks the command module

off the top of the Saturn IB booster.

Parachutes deploy.

If the winds are just about 18 knots,

we'd be carried right back onto shore.

- And... Bam! - [loud thud]

We'd be tumbling 'round and 'round like monkeys in a barrel.

We might hit the ground at some squirrelly angle.

Maybe those couches could sustain a beating like that.

But if not, I call that an "Ouch!"

- Did you get that? - Yeah. Perfect.

- Yeah. Are we rollin'? - Speed?

Mark it. There we go.

Okay.

Um... Just tell us who you are.

I'm John Young.

I'm the command module pilot on the backup crew for the Apollo 7.

What does it mean to be the backup crew?

Well, the backup crew sort of shadows the actual crew during training.

When they work in the simulator or on a maneuver,

we follow right in behind 'em and do the same.

What about the launch, though? What are your duties then?

Well, to prepare the module for Wally and his boys.

I mean, I know these systems here like the back of my hand.

So if anything were to happen,

your crew would be ready and, in fact, willing

to step right in for Wally's crew, is that right?

Well, sure.

But the point is,

Wally wants everything set and ready by someone as qualified as himself,

someone who could fly that mission now, today.

And, you know, I'd want that on my flight too.

[Messick] I just wanna make sure we have the card sequencing correct.

You mean the initialization deck?

No, Mr. Bonehead, I mean the active deck.

This isn't a simulation tomorrow.

I know, but last week's test run

uncovered a major bug in the uplink subroutine.

A continuous loop.

There wasn't a jump command to the endogenous events.

I want to make sure I get a return to subroutine D-SYS when toss is called.

- Of course. - That's what I'm saying.

All right.

So, at T-minus 10:35, we begin the abort-light verification.

- Just before DMSS is clear? - Roger.

Like being the only cowboy in a team ropin' competition.

I wouldn't know, John. The rodeo rarely came to Berlin.

[laughs]

Okay, we're sitting here with Walt Cunningham,

who is the lunar module pilot of Apollo 7.

You're now less than 24 hours away from your first launch into space.

- Feel ready? - Sure I'm ready.

- Excited? - Excited?

- Yeah. - You bet!

Look, let me tell you something.

We have the best spacecraft. We have the best crew.

The public is urging us on 100 percent.

I think we're gonna show everybody what Apollo 7 can do.

- [Wendt] Ah! - Workin' hard or hardly workin'?

Good to see you, Wally. I was wondering when you'd stop by.

It's an old habit, Guenter. Checkin' out the boat the night before we ship out.

I remember well. Please step into my office.

- She's a beauty, don't you think? - Oh, yeah.

Yeah, she's sweet.

I'm sorry there will be no pinup posters this time.

I couldn't even sneak in a deck of cards.

So I heard.

Well, I've got some paperwork I have to catch up on.

Sure. I'll let you know when I leave.

[Wendt] Yeah. That's fine.

- How's it look? - Jeez.

You scared the hell outta me, John Patrick.

I'm sorry. I came to check on her before I hit the sack.

Yeah, same here.

Great minds, you know?

You bet.

[mouths word]

Well...

Well...

Good luck tomorrow.

You know, bon voyage. Have a nice trip.

- What do they say before a launch? - Liftoff! Liftoff!

[laughing]

So it's the night before the launch. You've sacrificed a lot to get here.

- How do you feel? - It's a lot of hard work, I mean...

It's great, you know? I mean, I love it, but...

There's a price you pay.

Is it hard on your family?

Oh, yeah. I mean, I try to get home most weekends.

Not so much the last couple of months as we've gotten close up to the launch.

But it's hard, you know? I mean, we...

Well, we're doin' great.

I mean, Harriet's been wonderful and...

I think we all know what's involved in gettin' this thing done.

Let me talk to your mom again, Son.

Thank you. Me too.

Hey, buddy.

[laughs]

Same here.

Yeah. You take care, Jo.

Sleep tight.

I love you too.

[sighs]

[man on radio] Good morning, Apollo 7. STC. Do you read?

[Young] Roger, STC. Five by.

What do you say, John, we gonna have a launch today?

I say that's affirmative, Skip. Lookin' good up here. How about you?

Oh, yeah. We're as good to go as go can get.

STC, Apollo 7.

Verifying CSM S-band transponder is off.

Roger, Apollo 7. Verification, S-band transponder is off.

BCMP: panel two, caution and warning power switch, position one.

STC, BCMP. Caution and warning power switch to one.

No gags today, Wally?

I did consider putting chattering teeth in my underwear but decided against it.

- What makes you think I'd have checked? - You always do, Dee. You always do.

Stop it.

Hello, Dee.

- Good morning, Wally. - Hey, Walt.

- Eisele show his face yet? - No.

I don't know what he's thinkin', the night before a launch.

Hasn't he seen her enough this week?

He's got a family in Houston, for Christ's sake.

An adjustment to the situation should've been made a long time ago.

I thought I made that clear to him.

He's in love.

It's...

an affair of the heart.

- [sarcastically] Yeah. - Mornin'.

I'll see you two at breakfast.

Your fly is down.

[liquid pours]

- [laughter] - That's pretty good.

Bill Dana, I saw him on Sullivan, he's great.

Yeah. Shepard's always talkin' about Bill Dana.

[mimics Latin American accent] My name, José Jiménez.

- [laughing] - Mr. Jiménez, could you tell us,

what's the most important thing in rocket travel?

[with accent] To me, the most important thing in rocket travel is the blastoff.

I always take a blast before I take off.

[laughing]

Otherwise, I wouldn't get in that thing.

[laughing]

- That's pretty good. - Walt.

Walt, give Eisele his bon voyage gift.

Say what?

[mimics fanfare]

Well, I guess it's official, then.

I can just see Cronkite sayin',

"And as the brave crew of Apollo 7 blast off,"

we bid our fond farewell to Wally,

"Walt and What's His Name."

[laughter]

[Cronkite] The start of Apollo 7, one of the most critical milestones

since this country embarked on the road to the moon.

America last flew astronauts on the two-man flight of Gemini 12

in November 1966.

It was to be followed in February of 1967

by the first three-man Apollo flight.

But then the fire on Pad 34.

[Schirra] We're all test pilots.

We're accustomed to things going wrong at times.

You're sad. You mourn the loss.

But you don't wear the black armband forever.

[explosion]

It's happening.

[overlapping distorted chatter]

Good luck. We're so proud.

[Cronkite] An engineer here at the Cape

points out that there are two million working parts in the Apollo spacecraft.

[applause]

Achieving 99.9% perfection still would not be good enough.

That would leave 2,000 parts to go wrong.

Well, that won't happen.

But any part that goes wrong could be critical and deadly

in a game as risky as this one.

[radio] Pad Leader, STC.

Crew has departed O and C.

I understand. They're on their way, John.

All right. Just checkin' the reservoirs and the cryo levels.

We're closing out the cryo sequence now.

[Cronkite] Apollo 7 starts the final American push to the moon.

Failure on this flight would all but finish US chances of reaching the moon

by the end of next year.

The schedule is close. No question about that.

Any significant failure could make impossible

meeting the goal of man on the moon by the end of this decade,

and also make doubtful

the unannounced goal of getting there before the Russians.

Pad Leader, STC. Flight crew has arrived.

Roger, STC. We are ready.

All personnel, stand by to verify the following switch positions.

Logic BUS, safe light, on.

Confirmed. Light on.

Pyro-BUS, safe light, on.

Light on. Check.

Caution and warning master alarm light, off.

Confirmed. Light off.

SCS control mode light, on.

[reporter] Standing there on Pad 34, ready to blast off into space

the Saturn IB is potentially far more dangerous than anything imaginable.

An explosion or the sudden, uncontrolled burning

of its 565 tons of liquid fuels and oxidizers

would almost surely destroy everything on the pad,

including the Apollo spacecraft and its crew.

[radio] Attitude deadman minimum, light on.

Deadman minimum, light on. Check.

- Rig switch high, light on. - Light on, check.

Remove boot protectors and CSE protective Velcro from boots.

Boot protectors and CSE protective Velcro from boots removed.

Ingress into couch.

Connect CCU to PGA.

CCU to PGA. Connected.

AC performs following. Panel 9.

- Suit power switch. - Suit power switch, on.

Roll B mag, rate 2, light on.

Metro, CBTS. How are the winds looking?

CBTS, Metro. We're within limits, but the wind is increasing.

Roger, Metro.

[Burns] It's less than one hour from launch.

The feeling here is one of awe.

There's this sense we've arrived at one of those defining moments in history.

Is this the end of an era?

Is this the final moment in man's failed attempt to reach the stars?

Or is this the beginning of something new?

At last, a chance to put the Apollo 1 tragedy behind us,

to define ourselves with a slightly naive but inspired sense

that we are unlimited beings, that we can do anything.

Remove suit CKT interconnect from SC.

Roger that. Suit CKT interconnect removed.

- Remove POB from SC. - POB from SC removed.

Test. Test. Hear me, Wally?

Five squared, John.

How do you think Navy's gonna do this weekend?

Figure them to beat Air Force's ass.

[laughing]

STC, BCMP. Internal comm check is complete.

CDR is on.

- CDR, STC. How do you read? -STC, CDR. Loud and clear.

- How do we look, Skip? - Just fine, Wally.

Your ship's in great shape.

Stand by. Houston's ready for a comm check.

- Houston, Apollo 7. How do we read? - Five by, Apollo 7.

STC, CDR.

Hope you guys are keepin' an eye on the winds.

They looked pretty strong comin' up here.

Roger that, Apollo 7. We're still in the window for launch.

Go fever.

CDR, THC neutral and locked.

Rog. Neutral and locked.

Panel one verify: manual attitude roll switch rate command.

- Roger. Rate command. - Pitch switch acceleration command.

Pitch accel command.

- Yaw switch rate command. - Yaw rate command.

CDR, STC. SCS, TVC pitch switch rate command.

Pitch switch rate command.

- Yaw switch rate command. - Yaw switch rate command.

LMP, STC. Panel three, verify.

- Rog, STC. Panel three. - LMP.

VHF antenna select. SM left.

VHF antenna select. SM left.

Main BUS A reset switch, center.

Rog. Main BUS A reset, center.

SPS helium valve one switch, auto.

Helium one, auto.

- SPS helium valve two switch, auto. - Rog. Helium two, auto.

- VHF beacon switch, off. - VHF beacon switch, off.

AC BUS one reset switch, center.

Rog. AC one reset, center.

AC BUS two reset, center.

Rog. AC two reset, center.

All right, Captain. Got 'er all swabbed out for you.

Thank you, John.

Have a good flight. Fellas.

STC, Pad Leader. Request permission to close the hatch.

Pad Leader, STC. You have a go.

Well, you flyboys all set?

Can I get you anything? A magazine? A cocktail?

- [laughing] - Good-bye, Guenter.

Auf wiedersehen!

Ha!

- Stand by for... - [Wendt] Okay.

Roger. Standing by.

Abort handle neutral and locked.

Roger. Abort handle is neutral and locked.

THC power off.

[door thuds]

Roger. THC power is off.

CDR verify, abort lights on and off.

Standing by for abort lights.

STC, CDR. Abort light is on.

STC, CDR. Abort light is off.

Roger, CDR. Abort sequence verified.

CDR, STC. Abort handle unlocked and armed.

Roger, STC. Abort handle is unlocked and armed.

STC, Pad Leader. Hatch closed and locked.

Ready for cabin leak check.

Seal indicators positive, and we're beginning pressurization now.

Roger. Pressurization.

[air hisses]

Lock it up.

Right, dump the pressure.

Disconnect the hoses.

Got it.

STC, Pad Leader.

Cabin leak check and O2 check complete

and we're preparing to close the PPC hatch.

Close the hatch.

PPC hatch is closed. White room closeout complete.

We're ready to clear the pad.

- Roger, Pad Leader. Clear to roadblock. - Roger. Clearing the pad.

Okay, guys.

Let's get the hell out of here and let these gentlemen do their job.

It's so quiet.

Yeah. I wonder where Guenter went.

[laughing]

I'm gonna steal that.

[laughing]

Press.

CBTS, this is the pad leader. Closeout crew is at Roadblock 11.

Roger, Pad Leader. The pad is clear. Preparing to retract the white room.

Roger, STC. We're goin' for launch.

Apollo 7, this is STC. The flight director in Houston is ready.

We're ready. Gentlemen, we are go for launch.

[sighs]

[Cronkite] We seem to be experiencing some fairly strong winds

here at the Cape.

But NASA officials say they're still optimistic

that weather conditions will be within mission parameters.

If the wind speed should top 18 knots, however,

the possibility of a hold on this count

becomes far more likely.

[tapping]

STC, Apollo 7.

Either our rate needles are way out of whack,

or we're gettin' some pretty substantial wind up here.

Roger, Apollo 7.

It's not your rate needles. You've got wind.

Okay, then.

I'm recommending a hold on the count.

These winds appear to be way out of the mission rule parameters.

Do you copy that, Skip?

We're not happy about the wind situation here.

Roger that, Wally.

Do you mean a possible scrub situation here?

[Schirra] I hope not.

I just don't like the situation.

Wally, Deke here.

We have been assured by Meteorological

that we have an acceptable launch condition.

But if you want to hold, we'll hold. It's up to you.

[sighs]

Uh, Deke?

If you say we're in the ballpark...

then I guess we're a go.

- Roger that, Wally. - [murmuring]

[buttons bleep]

Go fever, huh?

[laughing]

Okay, final telemetry uplink for primary ascent guidance data.

That's a go for PAGD.

We are transmitting now.

We are go for launch and will begin chill down on my mark.

In five, four, three...

two, one, mark.

Begin S-IB fuel tank pressurization at T-minus two minutes, 44 seconds.

On my mark. Five...

four, three...

two, one, mark.

[whispering]

LH-2 tank pressurization.

T-minus one minute, 53 seconds. On my mark.

Five, four, three...

two, one, mark.

And we're a go for main engine start.

Ten, nine, eight...

seven, six, five...

four, three...

two, one.

Liftoff, and clock's running.

[Schirra] We have cleared the tower.

[man] Roger.

We're clear of the tower. You got it, Houston.

[cheering]

Pitch is tracking good.

Roger, Apollo 7. You're lookin' good at 5,000.

[Schirra] Roger that.

All right! That's it!

Roll complete. We're on our way.

Roger that. Godspeed, Apollo 7.

Godspeed.