Countdown For Apollo Begins

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31921, 24 February 1969, Page 13

Countdown For Apollo Begins

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) CAPE KENNEDY, February 23. The countdown for the launching of Apollo 9, during which America’s moon landing craft will be flown in earth orbit began at Cape Kennedy yesterday.

The 10-day Apollo 9 mission, dress rehearsal for a moon landing, is scheduled to blast off next Friday. It is regarded by space officials as the most difficult, complicated and dangerous mission so far in the Apollo programme.

A successful flight might mean that man will step on to the surface of the moon this year. Failure of the Apollo 9 mission might mean the end of American hopes of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade—a target set by President John Kennedy. The Apollo 9 mission count began on schedule at 5 a.m. yesterday. Technicians started feeding electrical power to the giant three-stage Saturn 5 rocket, and giving the Apollo command capsule and the moonlanding Lunar Excursion Module (L.E.M.) a thorough check.

As the equipment underwent the first stage of a minute scrutiny before it is cleared for space, the astronauts, James McDivitt, Dave Scott and Russell Schweickart, prepared for a day’s hard training in Apollo and L.E.M. simulators. The astronauts will continue their training programme tomorrow, but will take time off in the morning to go to church in nearby Cocoa Beach. The count-down and checkout will go at a relatively leisurely pace until 10 p.m. Wednesday, when the final count begins. The main aim of Apollo 9 is to give the spider-like L.E.M. a thorough work-out in earth orbit, testing all its propulsion and control systems and its ability to link with, separate from, and meet from a different orbit the command module. Space officials regard this final meeting with the command module in earth orbit as probably more difficult than in moon orbit.