A great number of people throughout my life helped me through the events, good and bad, recounted in this book. You know who you are, and you have my continuing thanks for your friendship and support.
I’m most grateful to the team at Smithsonian Books, who believed in and backed this project with dedication and enthusiasm. Roger Launius, a senior curator of the Space History Division at the National Air and Space Museum and NASA’s former chief historian, kindly added his authoritative voice to those recommending that this book be published. Carolyn Gleason and Matt Litts ably steered this project to fruition, with the expert editing of Lise Sajewski, who sharpened and clarified the story considerably.
A number of space researchers, friends, collectors, and enthusiasts were of great help when writing this book. They provided archival materials and information that helped us make every page as accurate as possible. For some, it was simply to confirm one small detail. For others, the help went much deeper. Our thanks go to Harry Andonian, Jurg Bolli, Paul Bramley, Marcy Frumker, Jay Gallentine, Rich and Rob Godwin, Ed Hengeveld, Ray Holt, Tracy Kornfeld, Hamish Lindsay, John Macco, Bruce Moody, Willie Moseley, David Newell of the Fred Rogers Company, Robert Pearlman of collectSPACE, J. L. Pickering, David Shomper, Lee Starrick, Bill Stoval, and Simon Vaughan.
Reading and rereading draft chapters is a thankless task, but outside eyes often pick up details we would otherwise miss. For their assistance, our appreciation goes to Brent Bernasconi, Rossco Davis, Erin French, as well as Anne and Bill Morrell for their valuable insights. Reading chapters from a space historian’s viewpoint also greatly improved our early drafts, and for this task we were lucky enough to have the expert team of Colin Burgess, Jim Busby, Michael Cassutt, and John Charles. Their vast knowledge of the subject area sharpened the book.
Kris Stoever is a true triple threat: the daughter of an astronaut, a bestselling author, and one of the world’s best editors. She focused her unique talents and insights on our manuscript; the book was greatly improved by her assistance, friendship, and sound advice.
Thanks to Jo Schirra for access to her late husband’s papers. And Wally Schirra—wherever you are—thank you for your lifelong support and friendship.
Thanks also go to my many astronaut friends who provided me with information on some of the more obscure corners of our mutual adventures. Tom Stafford has pushed me for years to write this book, and provided helpful confirmations of the closed-door politics that went on around some of the events in this story. Dick Gordon was probably my closest friend in the entire program and wrote a great foreword to this book, one more special moment in a lifelong friendship. Neil Armstrong and John Glenn provided much-valued suggestions. Special appreciation to fellow astronaut Tom Jones for his friendship and advice in getting this book published. As someone who journeyed to the moon with me in spirit, Farouk El-Baz was kind enough to make that trip with me one more time, carefully reviewing the lunar geology sections of the book. Dee O’Hara was a great support at the time of the events we relate, and that care continues to this day. Thank you, Dee, for everything.
Thanks to the Research Division of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force; the Office of History and Preservation of the U.S. House of Representatives; the National Personnel Records Center of the National Archives and Records Administration; and the Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Each contained documents that confirmed and reignited old memories. Thanks also to Sonia López, who carefully scanned and meticulously restored numerous old photos.
A thank you to the unknown transcribers who, four decades ago, carefully recorded our words from space and in the later congressional hearings. The events I recount are burned deep in my memory (flying to the moon tends to do that), but to have my exact words from so long ago at hand helped me relive events with even sharper clarity and precision.
I want to reserve my final thank you for my wife Jill. We are approaching thirty years of married life together and have shared many wonderful adventures. She’s always understood how important it is for me to tell this story, and I thank her for her support while we researched and wrote the book. I’m looking forward to our next few decades of adventures together.
I’ve tried my best to describe people and events in words; however, I know there will be places in this story where a reader would like to see a photo. As there is only a limited amount of space in the book, I have added more photos to my website—www.alworden.com—from my life today back to my childhood. I hope you enjoy them.