Do We Want to Go to the Moon or Not?

NASA news conference, July 11, 1962:

DR. ROBERT C. SEAMANS, JR., Associate Administrator, NASA. I would like first to say that when I joined NASA almost two years ago one of the first places that I went to was Langley Field, and there reviewed work going on on a research base under Dr. John Houbolt. This work related both to rendezvous and what a man could do at the controls, of course under simulated conditions, as well as the possibility of lunar orbit rendezvous.

It was pointed out at that time that by not taking certain of the essential elements down to the lunar surface and back to a spacecraft in orbit around the moon, taking it down the last hundred miles and back up, that it would be possible to scale down the launch vehicle requirements in the ratio of roughly two to one. It was clear to us at that time that the key to such mode involves a rendezvous that must be carried out with very high regard to reliability and safety considerations.

Following this time, that is, in the following December and January months, NASA was carefully considering manned flights beyond Mercury. It was quite reasonable at that time we should not only consider the direct mode, which we did, but also the various types of rendezvous, both in orbit around the earth, in orbit around the moon, and on the lunar surface... 

DR. D. BRAINERD HOLMES, Director, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA...We who study this program, and who also bear the responsibility for implementing it, have unanimously come to the conclusion know there is no one to contest this conclusion studied, all are feasible.

However, the group within NASA has further come to the conclusion that the advantages of the lunar orbit rendezvous mode from the standpoint of cost, from the standpoint of schedule, from the standpoint of simplicity, from the standpoint of minimal additional developments which must be undertaken immediately, is the mode to go.

Thus my favorite From the Earth to the Moon episode was born.  And who would build the lander?  Why, Tom Kelly and the Grumman gang, of course:

In January 1962 we competed for a NASA-funded study of LOR and the LM. Although we thought our proposal was a good one, Convair won the award: fifty thousand dollars for a four-month study. We proceeded with our company-funded study anyway, and in June we submitted our study report to NASA. Shortly thereafter we were invited to brief our findings to Joseph F. Shea at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Shea had recently been recruited to NASA by Brainerd Holmes, NASA’s associate administrator for Manned Space Flight, and had been assigned to settle the “mission mode” issue. An experienced systems engineer from the Titan ballistic missile guidance program, Shea projected intelligence, engineering talent, self-confidence, and leadership. He was the right man to make a momentous decision. 

In my first meeting with him in Washington, Shea continually interrupted my briefing with difficult but logical questions and meaningful comments: What makes you so sure the rendezvous can be accomplished? It’s a long way from home, and there won’t be much help from the ground. Have you calculated the allowable guidance errors for each rocket firing during rendezvous? How good are your LM weight estimates? If LM is overweight, it gets multiplied all the way down the launch stack. 

Our study results on the relative advantages of LOR were by then quite mature, and I was on solid ground with our data, able to parry Shea’s thrusts. Our LM design studies had also progressed to the point where they seemed credible, and each major design feature was supported by technically satisfying arguments. John Houboult joined enthusiastically in the interrogation; it was like defending a doctoral dissertation. 

After two hours of grilling, Shea smiled and said that we had done a useful study on our own initiative and promised to consider our input in reaching his decision. He complimented me on my presentation and in-depth knowledge. I left the room elated that I had survived a baptism by fire. 

Two weeks later NASA announced that they had selected LOR as the Apollo mission mode and would proceed with an industry competition for the design, development, and construction of the lunar module. The LM request for proposal was issued in late July, with responses due in early September. We were ready.

Indeed, they were ready, and they won.  Then the real fun began.  Anyway, Happy LOR Day to all who celebrate!

You're Still Alive, My Old Friend

I'll never forget asking my buddy, JS, in the hallway at Perrysburg Junior High how he liked the movie.  I had not seen it yet, and he yelled over the end of school bustle, "It was great.  Spock Dies!"

PS - Guess Gene still hadn't heard of Space Invaders.  Must've been a pinball wizard.

Animula vagula blandula

Little Soul:

Little soul little stray

little drifter

now where will you stay

all pale and all alone

after the way

you used to make fun of things

Hadrian.

Libraries Are Liberty

Libraries literally aren’t just places to borrow books for free. They’re some of the last truly public spaces where you’re allowed to simply exist without being expected to spend money.

— G. F. Allen (@AuthorGFAllen) July 9, 2026

I love libraries.  They are the greatest spaces ever created by humankind.

The Way Public Library, where Mom worked for much of my youth, was across the street from Perrysburg Junior High, and I spent many hours there after school (when I wasn't at the laundromat next door playing Galaga).  Lots of summer days, too, reading in a favorite bay window seat (uh, sorry about burning a hole in the fabric with a magnifying glass, I was just testing something I'd read about).

I also really enjoyed the Toledo Public Library, which felt like a cathedral to me.  Completely different style, but the same sense of magic as the one in Wings of Desire.  The Seattle Central Library feels similar to me, too, and I loved walking over there with the kids when we lived downtown.

The little one we have on Vashon is pretty great as well.  Sadie goes there to do homework with friends.  Sam hangs out there while waiting for the Metro bus.

And for me, back in the dark times, the library was a sanctuary.  It was a place I could stay for hours and hours and hours in public and in safety.  It's also where I started reading about domestic violence, which helped me understand what the hell was going on in my life, and that I really needed to do something about it.

I don't spend so much time there nowadays.  Mostly I borrow e-books at this juncture, but occasionally will get an interlibrary loan, and I still drop in simply to sit a spell, or use their printing services (my 10yo printer gave up the ghost and I am loathe to replace it).  I just like being at home more than I did back in the day, since the threat level has reduced significantly.

I hope the angels don't miss me too much.

Selah.

PS - How could I have forgotten to mention the iconic Miller Library at my alma mater?  I watched movies there when I didn't have a VCR, learned a lot about information security in the terminal room down in the basement, and sometimes even did real school work.  Got frisky there with a lady a couple three times, too, lol.

Feeling All the Bumpers, Always Playing Clean

Made me laugh to realize why Gene referenced pinball: Space Invaders didn't come out until the following year.  And don't worry, man, there will still be plenty of serious movies in the future.

Might

Democracy Poem #1:

Tell them that I stood

in line

and I waited

and I waited

like everybody

else

But I never got

called

And I keep that scrap

of paper

in my pocket

just in case

June Jordan.

#throwbackthursday

Exploring our new Seattle neighborhood. (2019)

Creeping out our old Estacada neighborhood. (2019)

Monsters from the Id

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

Another Girl, Another Planet

From Space:

You are smaller than I remember

And so is the house, set downhill

Afloat in a sea of scrub oak. From up here

It’s an ordinary box with gravel

Spread over its lid, weighting it, but

Inside it’s full of shadows and sky.

Clouds pull themselves over dry

Grass, which, if  I’m not mistaken, will erupt

Any minute in flame. Only

A spark, a sunbeam focused. From up

Here, enjoying the view, I can finally

Take you in. Will you wave back? I keep

Slingshotting around. There’s gravity

For you, but all I ever wanted was to fly.

Katharine Coles.

See androids fighting Brad and Janet

Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet.

To Strive

The Struggle Staggers Us:

Our birth and death are easy hours like sleep
and food and drink. The struggle staggers us
for bread, for pride, for simple dignity.
And this is more than fighting to exist,
more than revolt and war and human odds.
There is a journey from the Me to You.
There is a journey from the You to Me.
A union of the two strange worlds must be. 

Ours is a struggle from a too warm bed,
too cluttered with a patience full of sleep.
Out of this blackness we must struggle forth;
from want of bread, of pride, of dignity.
Struggle between the morning and the night,
this marks our years, this settles, too, our plight. 

Margaret Walker.

She's jeering at the shadows

Sneering behind a smile.

The Only Painter Left Who Understands What Colour Really Is

Marc Chagall:

See, the sound of yellow
is a season of
incendiarism. A blaze taller
than leaves, and genesis impales
martyrdom in the ultimate eye. 

See, the fish with the leaping violins
invades the childhood's continent;
the sun breaks the color explodes,
the motion of all: clown versus
subsequent calf in tear's embrace. 

See, the ordained clock
upon the cheek of its village,
a strange vase unlatched in space.
And love, the mythical-blue,
spins delirium of all colors—
pursuit of the aerial kin. 

And here,
the moon renews the kiss of the evening,
and re-infected in that metamorphosis
of red, the third eye blooms a historic tear.
This is Vitebsk's fever, indelible color,
the flawless purple of grandfather's caftan.

Selwyn S. Schwartz.

By the waters, the waters of Babylon

We lay down and wept, and wept.