[X] My Assistant

[DDAVIS]

I have a page on Apollo which is updated annually. Do others feel more optimistic than i do on the prospects for return? I for one won't believe we will leave LEO until the hardware to do it is actually being built.

http://www.donaldedavis.com/PARTS/Apollo30.html

[ljk4-1]

On the Moon with Apollo 16:

http://history.nasa.gov/EP-95/ep95.htm

Regarding this mission, I recall a description in Andrew Chaikin's
book A Man on the Moon about astronaut Ken Mattingly who did the
spacewalk during the return to Earth to retrieve some science data
from the Service Module.

Mattingly said that as he looked out at his surroundings, most of it
was just utter blackness (apparently his sun visor blocked out the
stars). He was so terrified of this ultimate void - especially as he
realized that the only thing between him and it was this now
seemingly tiny spacecraft - that he clung to the handles on the
Apollo for dear life during his EVA.

David S. F. Portree's book recording all EVAs, Walking to Olympus,
describes Mattingly's spacewalk as "leisurely", but that is not the
way I recall reading it in Chaikin's book.

http://history.nasa.gov/monograph7.pdf

Do I have the right Apollo mission EVA? Obviously no astronaut
back then would have admitted to being afraid publicly. Look what
happened to Scott Carpenter just for being amazed at his surroundings
during his one and only spaceflight in 1962.