“All the months of calm dispassionate analysis give way to a few minutes of emotion, an outburst of hope and horror as the inert beast comes alive for the first time, shakes itself and its new-found tail of fire, and starts slowly-so slowly-to move. For the first few seconds it is purely a spectacle, for with the eyes alone involved, one can see but not succumb. But when the great crackling Mach 1 roar arrives, and the very ground under you shakes, then you are there, you are part of it, and you laugh or cry or yell or whisper” ScienceSpaceFireAweExplorationApolloRocketsSpace ExplorationNasaGemini Author:Michael Collins
