Lee Collins nervously wiggled his foot as the President of the United States leaned back in his reclining leather chair intently studying the report Lee had just handed over. As the Executive Secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, Lee was the principle advisor to the White House regarding space issues. He was responsible for keeping the president abreast on how America was doing in its space race against the Soviet Union. Even with a Gemini space mission currently underway, Lee needed to inform the president of the latest news.
As the tense moments passed, the president’s brow began to narrow, a defined crinkle settling on his forehead. He slowly took off his reading glasses before swiveling around to focus in on the executive secretary. “So you’re telling me we can’t put a man on the moon by the end of this decade?”
Keeping his poise, Lee straightened up in the chair. Though the president had long known of the combustion instability problem associated with the Saturn V rocket, this was Lee’s final assessment of the situation. “Yes, sir. Even though we thought we had solved the instability problems with the F-1 engines back in ’61, the problem has been recurring in recent tests preparing for the first Apollo launch.”
The president slammed the chair’s armrest hard with his fist. “Damn it! We can’t lose to the Soviets. There must be something we can do.”
“Sir, only one country has the expertise to solve this problem.”
“Let me guess. The USSR?”
“Yes, sir.”
The president angrily swiveled his chair before propping his snakeskin cowboy boots up on the edge of his desk. “Can’t we just copy their design?”
“Sir, the Soviets have figured out how to handcraft this particular part that attaches to the combustion chamber, which would fix the problem. These parts are made by Russian engineering artisans in a process we haven’t been able to duplicate.”
Shaking his head in disgust, the president let out a frustrated sigh as he looked out the window, mumbling to himself. “If those Commies conquer the moon, they’ll control the world.” The president started tapping his glasses on his armrest. “How far behind are we?”
Every time Lee visited the White House, the president wanted to know if America was gaining ground on the Soviets in the race to the moon. “If the engine wasn’t a problem, I would say about four months.”
“Damn, that’s close.” The president crossed his legs. “What about…” he looked down at the floor, struggling to think of something, “…that astronaut flying a jet pack later today in space, umm, what’s-his-name.”
“Tom Novak?”
“Yeah, Tom Novak. Won’t that show up the Russians when he jets around in space over the world? That’s never been done before.”
“Yes, sir. That will be very impressive. Especially considering it’s only our second spacewalk. It will definitely put a notch on our belt and put some fear in the Soviets that one day soon our Air Force will have men patrolling space on jet packs.” Lee leaned back in his chair. “But as impressive as it will be, it doesn’t get us any closer to the moon.”
The president put his hands over his face and rubbed hard for a second before slowly sliding them off. “Would you say the Soviets are staying on schedule?”
“As long as the Iron Curtain is in place, it’s anyone’s guess. They have had some notable successes recently, which they’ve graciously shared with the world. It’s the failures they don’t publicize that are the big unknowns. Our intelligence says the N1 rocket looks to be ready for a test launch soon. If that’s the case, then a mission to the moon wouldn’t be too far off. At this point, I would have to say yes, they’re hitting their marks.”
The president’s boots dropped to the floor with a loud thud. He got up out of his chair and walked over to a large antique globe resting within a chestnut-wood floor stand. He spun the globe and stared at the spinning ball. All of a sudden the president turned to Lee and said in a direct and serious tone, “How tough would you say it is to put a man on the moon, compared to other achievements throughout history?”
Lee leaned forward, putting his arms on his legs. “Sending a man over 200,000 miles through deep space and landing him safely on the lunar surface and then bringing him back home safely would have to be one of the greatest accomplishments ever achieved by man. It’s probably humanity’s most challenging undertaking.”
“Exactly. So don’t you think the Soviet Union would be struggling too?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“For all we know, right now, the Kremlin could be saying that we’re in the lead.” The president put a finger on the globe, stopping its spinning. “How did you come to the conclusion we’re four months behind?”
“Earlier this year, their unmanned Luna spacecraft did a soft landing on the moon, four months before we did it with Surveyor.”
“Okay, so two years ago we were a year behind. Last year, six months. So we’ve been catching up steadily, which must be making Moscow nervous. I bet you they’re starting to feel the heat. They could be thinking they’re going to lose and might be willing to make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“For years the UN has dangled a space treaty in front of us and the Soviets stating the country that lands first could not claim ownership of the moon. Both countries have been circling the table with neither side stepping up and agreeing to the terms. Intelligence has learned Moscow is now willing to sign that treaty. Why? Possibly because they’re behind us and are scared of an American-owned moon. So what if we leaked out we’re having some instability issues with the F-1 engine, a problem we are confident we can fix without any outside help. The Soviets might think that’s their in, offering a fix in secret in exchange for us signing the treaty.”
Lee shook his head. “Sir, I only see that working if Moscow feels they’re going to lose the race.”
“Do you have any proof they aren’t thinking that?”
“No, sir. But it tips our hand.”
“True, it’s a gamble. But let’s see if they bite. You never know how they might react. If by chance they are having some serious problem of their own, they might be interested. If not, we haven’t lost anything. But I guarantee you this, the possibility of America owning the moon scares the hell out of the Russians.”
“As does a Red moon to us, sir.”
“Exactly.”
TOM NOVAK WAS gasping for air as he wrestled against Newton’s laws, struggling to reach the back end of the Gemini spacecraft that was zooming faster than 17,500 miles per hour over South Africa. The capsule was entering the cold, night side of Earth on the start of its thirty-second orbit. The exhausted young astronaut was running on pure adrenaline after spending over a half an hour wrestling with his umbilical cord while testing how to move around in space. Having already surpassed the longest spacewalk ever, Tom still had the most exciting and challenging part of his EVA coming up.
As only the third man to venture out into the harshness of space, he was about to attempt something incredible and straight out of a sci-fi novel. With the Soviets pulling off many firsts in space, including the first spacewalk, NASA needed to do something fantastic to get the world’s attention. Tom’s mission was to strap on a space-age jet pack and fly tethered around in space, just like his childhood comic book hero, Buck Rogers. Even for 1966, this was one hell of an undertaking that would surely show up their space archrivals.
The Astronaut Maneuvering Unit, also called the AMU jet pack, was waiting for Tom at the back end of the ship in the depths of the adaptor section. The ten-million-dollar contraption was designed by the Air Force to rule space. The hope was that in the near future, America would be policing the heavens with military men zipping around on these machines. They would be building space stations, performing rescues, and disabling enemy satellites. Air Force Major Tom Novak was going to be the first to test this expensive toy in space.