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Brown's Lunar Exploration Working Group Michael's Paper on a "Parking Orbit" The Feelings Against Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous The Space Task Group's Early Skepticism President Kennedy's Commitment |
There was a reluctance to believe that the rendezvous
maneuver was an easy thing. In fact, to a layman, if you were to explain what you
had to do to perform a rendezvous in space, he would say that sounds so difficult
we'll never be able to do it this century. Clinton E. Brown, head, Langley Lunar
Mission Steering Group on Trajectories and Guidance (from an interview with the
author, 17 July 1989) I'm not so sure we ever thought of rendezvous as very
complicated. It's an amazing thing. We thought that if our guys could work out
the orbital mechanics and we gave the pilot the right controls and stuff, then
he'd land it and make the rendezvous. We didn't think it was very
complicated. Arthur W. Vogeley, Langley Guidance and
Control Branch (from an interview with the author, 17 July 1989).
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