Feb 27

Space Rocket History #291 – Space 1970 – Luna 16 & 17

Luna 16 was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth after five unsuccessful similar attempts.

Feb 20

Space Rocket History #290 – Apollo 13 – Welcome Home

“Three brave astronauts are alive and on Earth because of the mission operations teams’ dedication, and because at the critical moments the people of that team were wise enough and self-possessed enough to make the right decisions. Their extraordinary feat is a tribute to man’s ingenuity, to his resourcefulness and to his courage.” President Richard Nixon

Feb 13

Space Rocket History #289 – Apollo 13 – Splashdown

“During blackout every team member does his own soul searching, reviewing the decisions and the data, knowing they had to be nearly perfect and knowing how tough perfection is.” Gene Kranz

Feb 06

Space Rocket History #288 – Apollo 13 – Re-entry

To Kranz and his team, this crew was special. They just could not lose them.  Failure was not an option.