lots together in the development—one of several planned communities to house those working at the new and thriving space center.
El Lago was principally a neat, ranch house community. It had crisscrossing streets, and the Whites and Armstrongs split their three contiguous lots so each would have a lot and a half.
Other members of the Gemini Nine, the Staffords, Bormans, and Youngs built homes in the El Lago subdivision, too, while the Mercury Seven’s Glenns, Carpenters, Grissoms, and Schirras lived at nearby Timber Cove.
The two neighborhoods were virtually an astronaut colony that would be strengthened by new members from the third group of astronauts selected in October 1963.
Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton now had thirty astronauts under his wing.
Eight of the fourteen new space travelers were test pilots. Five of those test pilots were from the Air Force. They were Donn F. Eisele, Charles A. Bassett, Michael Collins, Theodore C. Freeman, and David R. Scott. There were two test pilots from the Navy. They were Alan L. Bean and Richard F. Gordon, and one remaining test pilot was from the Marine Corps. He was Clifton C. Williams.
The remaining six were all pilots, but more important they came with wide-ranging backgrounds from academia. Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. had a doctorate in astronautics from MIT. His dissertation on orbital rendezvous would be essential in the flight sequences needed to reach the moon, and his dissertation would surely come in handy when he and Neil Armstrong walked on the lunar surface July 20, 1969.
Joining Buzz from the halls of learning was Air Force fighter pilot William A. Anders who held a master’s in nuclear engineering. Another newcomer, Navy aviator Eugene A. Cernan, had an engineering degree from Purdue and a master’s in electrical engineering from the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School. In fact, Cernan would be the last astronaut to walk on the moon. Former naval aviator Roger B. Chaffee also had an engineering degree from Purdue. Then there was Walter Cunningham, a former marine fighter pilot with a master’s degree in physics from UCLA, and former Air Force pilot, Russell L. Schweickart, with a master’s in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT.
Neil didn’t know it at the time, but this third group of fourteen astronauts had just brought him Dave Scott, who would be his crewmate for Gemini 8 , and Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who would fly with him on Apollo 11 .
Late 1964 was also the time this writer really got to know Neil.
As a member of the Cape Canaveral press corps I had been covering him and the other Gemini astronauts for two years. But beyond a brief hello and a question or two, our association was scant at best until mutual tragedy was the catalyst for a friendship that would last 50 years.
My wife, Jo, and I had a son born five weeks premature on November 22, 1964. The local hospital failed to take proper precautions. Our baby developed Hyaline Membrane Disease and we did everything we could to help the little fellow develop his underdeveloped lungs.
I had to keep an appointment with longtime friend John Rivard, and during our conversation I had a mental image of Jo sitting up in her hospital bed, crying. She needed me. “I have to go,” I said, interrupting John. “The boy just died.”
“I be danged,” John said, adding as I walked away to my car, “If I can help, let me know.”
There were no cell phones in those days—only landlines and long waits on switchboards and such. I drove as quickly as I could to the hospital, and then ran down the hall into Jo’s room.
She was just as I had seen her in my mind, sitting up in her bed, her face awash with tears.
“Scott’s dead, Jay,” she cried.
“I know,” I said, “I got your message about ten minutes ago.”
We comforted each other, and Jo remained in the hospital a couple of more days. Our three-year-old daughter Alicia was with Jo’s parents in Orlando.
The next
El Lago was principally a neat, ranch house community. It had crisscrossing streets, and the Whites and Armstrongs split their three contiguous lots so each would have a lot and a half.
Other members of the Gemini Nine, the Staffords, Bormans, and Youngs built homes in the El Lago subdivision, too, while the Mercury Seven’s Glenns, Carpenters, Grissoms, and Schirras lived at nearby Timber Cove.
The two neighborhoods were virtually an astronaut colony that would be strengthened by new members from the third group of astronauts selected in October 1963.
Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton now had thirty astronauts under his wing.
Eight of the fourteen new space travelers were test pilots. Five of those test pilots were from the Air Force. They were Donn F. Eisele, Charles A. Bassett, Michael Collins, Theodore C. Freeman, and David R. Scott. There were two test pilots from the Navy. They were Alan L. Bean and Richard F. Gordon, and one remaining test pilot was from the Marine Corps. He was Clifton C. Williams.
The remaining six were all pilots, but more important they came with wide-ranging backgrounds from academia. Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. had a doctorate in astronautics from MIT. His dissertation on orbital rendezvous would be essential in the flight sequences needed to reach the moon, and his dissertation would surely come in handy when he and Neil Armstrong walked on the lunar surface July 20, 1969.
Joining Buzz from the halls of learning was Air Force fighter pilot William A. Anders who held a master’s in nuclear engineering. Another newcomer, Navy aviator Eugene A. Cernan, had an engineering degree from Purdue and a master’s in electrical engineering from the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School. In fact, Cernan would be the last astronaut to walk on the moon. Former naval aviator Roger B. Chaffee also had an engineering degree from Purdue. Then there was Walter Cunningham, a former marine fighter pilot with a master’s degree in physics from UCLA, and former Air Force pilot, Russell L. Schweickart, with a master’s in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT.
Neil didn’t know it at the time, but this third group of fourteen astronauts had just brought him Dave Scott, who would be his crewmate for Gemini 8 , and Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who would fly with him on Apollo 11 .
Late 1964 was also the time this writer really got to know Neil.
As a member of the Cape Canaveral press corps I had been covering him and the other Gemini astronauts for two years. But beyond a brief hello and a question or two, our association was scant at best until mutual tragedy was the catalyst for a friendship that would last 50 years.
My wife, Jo, and I had a son born five weeks premature on November 22, 1964. The local hospital failed to take proper precautions. Our baby developed Hyaline Membrane Disease and we did everything we could to help the little fellow develop his underdeveloped lungs.
I had to keep an appointment with longtime friend John Rivard, and during our conversation I had a mental image of Jo sitting up in her hospital bed, crying. She needed me. “I have to go,” I said, interrupting John. “The boy just died.”
“I be danged,” John said, adding as I walked away to my car, “If I can help, let me know.”
There were no cell phones in those days—only landlines and long waits on switchboards and such. I drove as quickly as I could to the hospital, and then ran down the hall into Jo’s room.
She was just as I had seen her in my mind, sitting up in her bed, her face awash with tears.
“Scott’s dead, Jay,” she cried.
“I know,” I said, “I got your message about ten minutes ago.”
We comforted each other, and Jo remained in the hospital a couple of more days. Our three-year-old daughter Alicia was with Jo’s parents in Orlando.
The next
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