January 31, 1971 - Apollo 14, with Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell & Stu Roosa on board, departs Kennedy Space Center for the Moon, nine months after the aborted Apollo 13 mission. For Admiral Shepard, the first American astronaut in Space, it had been an even longer wait. Ten years had passed since that first first fifteen minute sub-orbital flight of the Mercury program, and after being grounded for an inner ear condition. His second and last spaceflight, Apollo 14 would be the only lunar mission for any of the "original seven" American astronauts. It was the end of the second hiatus in American manned spaceflight. Following the end of the Gemini program and the deaths of Shepard's fellow member of the "original seven" Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee during a pad test of the Apollo 204 stack, January 27, 1967, American manned spaceflight had also been grounded until Apollo 7 was cleared for flight in October 1968.[NASA/ASJ].
2 comments:
"January 31, 1971 - Apollo 14,... departs Kennedy Space Center for the Moon, twenty-two months after the aborted Apollo 13 mission."- ???
Apollo 13 launched Apr. 11, 1970, nine months before.
Hardly even counts as a hiatus, does it! (Yup, math was never a strong suit. I had just nearly run out of fingers trying to count up the number of lunar days between the landing of Surveyor 3 and Apollo 12, and got a brain cramp.) Thanks for the correction!
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