Juvenelia: Flight into Space

I have written about how I was space crazy as a girl. I enjoyed make-believe play about going to outer space or being visited by space aliens. I dressed my Midge doll in 'Gone Fishing' and pretended she was Philip, the boy from Mars. How I ignored those curves is an act of imagination all in itself! My first story, The Saucer in Her Yard, was about a space alien stranded on earth. I wrote it in Seventh Grade. And in junior high, I filled scrapbooks with articles about the Space Race. 

from my scrap book

As I sorted through my memorabilia I came across this cartoon series I wrote as a teenager, perhaps at age 14 or 15. 'Flight into Space' has been edited to 'Fright into Space.' 

Here are links to Space Race books I have read recently:
Apollo 8 by Jeffrey Kluger
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/apollo-8-thrilling-story-of-first.html

Space Man by Mike Massimino
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-real-right-stuff-spaceman-by-mike.html

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/02/hidden-figures-by-margot-lee-shetterly.html

I made When Dreams Came True to celebrate Apollo 11
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2014/07/when-dreams-came-true-apollo-lunar.html

detail from When Dreams Came True
by Nancy A. Bekofske

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon

I admit I was space crazy as a girl, and forty-nine years later I am still thrilled when reading about the time 'when dreams came true' and men first went into space.

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger didn't disappoint. Although Apollo 8 doesn't have the inherent drama of the Apollo 13 mission, which Kluger and Lovett wrote about, the narrative is engrossing and riveting. 

NASA badly needed a success after the deaths of astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee in 1967 while testing Apollo 1. And so did an America entrenched in a spiraling war, enduring multiple assassinations, and experiencing civic unrest. Getting to the moon by 1970, as President Kennedy had challenged, seemed more unlikely than ever. Apollo 1 and the Saturn V rocket had both failed. The Vietnam war was draining our coffers and the space program was losing support.  NASA had to buckle down and recommit to excellence. 

Gemini 7 astronauts Borman and Lovell were slated to spend fourteen days in space as human 'lab rats'. Then came the idea of sending Gemini 6 up after launching Gemini 7, a joint mission that would allow the spacecraft to approach each other to prove that docking could be possible. 

It was just the huge success NASA, and the country needed. 

As I read about Borman and Lovell and Gemini 6 and 7 I  remembered my scrapbook with clippings and pages of articles.

Bill Mauldin on Apollo 8

I even made my own drawing.

My drawing of Gemini 6 and 7

Next up was Apollo 8, the second manned Apollo mission, which was to orbit the moon in December 1968, paving the way for Apollo 11 and a lunar landing. Anders, Borman, and Lovett had sixteen weeks to prepare. It was a crazy risk. 

It was so interesting to read about the astronaut's life in space: motion sickness, meals, personal needs, illness, accidents, boredom--and the wonder of being the first humans to see Earth wholly suspended in the infinite universe. "This must be what God sees," Borman thought when he saw Earth. 

The amazing astronaut's wives stories are also impressive, accepting the risks of their husband's career and keeping home and children 'normal' in spite of legions of news reporters surrounding their homes.

By the time of Apollo 8 my scrapbook days were over. But that mission had changed how my generation saw the world, spurring a new environmental awareness. Ander's photograph Earthrise was the first to impact Earthling's view of their place in the universe, a lesson we have sadly forgotten. This fragile, amazing planet is our home. 

Earthrise NASA

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Read more about the Apollo program at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program

Search for more photos from the Apollo programs at

https://www.nasa.gov/

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon

Jeffrey Kluger

Henry Holt & Co

Publication Date: May 16, 2017

$30 hardcover

ISBN:9781627798327

When Dreams Came True: The Apollo Lunar Landing

About twelve years ago I made my quilt When Dreams Came True, celebrating the special moment in time when humanity accomplished an amazing goal. I had grown up with the Space Race and I have several scrapbooks full of newspaper clipping from the early ventures. I was in high school when man walked on the moon. It was a time when we still believed that we could dream big dreams and work hard and make them come true.

 "On July 19, Apollo 11 neared and went behind the Moon. At 1:28 p.m. EDT, it fired its service module rocket to go into lunar orbit. After 24 hours in lunar orbit Armstrong and Aldrin separated Eagle from Columbia, to prepare for descent to the lunar surface. On July 20 at 4:18 p.m. EDT, the Lunar Module touched down on the Moon at Tranquility Base. Armstrong reported "The Eagle Has Landed." And at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong, descending from Eagle's ladder and touching one foot to the Moon's surface, announced:"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

To design the images I used copyright free NASA photographs. I printed copies of the photos and traced the outlines with a black marker. I projected the image onto large paper and traced the outlines. For the portraits of the astronauts I used a copier to enlarge the image even more.

Using the enlarged copies I cut out the outlined pieces to make templates. I also traced each image onto a large clear plastic sheet so I could check for correct placement. I used fusible applique, thread work, and machine quilting. It was my first time to try these techniques.

Read about it at The First Lunar Landing  as Told By the Astronauts: http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/FirstLunarLanding/cover.html