1960s: Parties, Aging, and a Terrible Accident
While young people with flowers in their hair gather to San Seqouia to party, young people in general start going to Oasis Springs for the same reason. Here the scene is different, however, less statements about love and less use of bubbles and more pop-music, keg-drinking, dancing and making out while drunk and regretting it later.
Michael loves these parties, when he gets permission from his parents to go, that is. Mostly, this is when they don't know what's going on and think he and his friends are just going to the park after school. And technically, that's true. They do. And they do swim, play foosball, darts and ping pong like Michael tells his parents they are. It's just that they also dance and drink and make out which he simply "forgets" to tell them.
Micheal doesn't feel the least bit guilty for withholding information though, not when doing so gives him the courage to make a move on Linda, and - finally! - make out with her. Totally worth a small lie!
There are other types of parties in Oasis Springs too, like Josephine and Nash's joint 70th birthday party. A lot less wild, but nevertheless a pleasant evening together with the family, even if Michael in all honesty would rather lock lips with Linda than celebrating his grandparents. Still, he loves them, and so he can make do without Linda for a night. For Nash and Josephine, becoming elders is not that dramatic, but they do go over their wills, and make sure to decide what to leave each of their children.
As a new year begins, things are exciting at Edwards. After months of preparations and tests and advanced collaborations with colleagues from across the country, its time for the first major pre-launch test with a fully crewed Apollo spacecraft on the launch pad. The test itself is mostly routine, but the information gathered is important and an important step before launching the Apollo Command Module into space. This is where they will learn if they're calculations are correct. If the spacecraft systems, launch pad procedures and communication between astronauts and mission control work as it's supposed to.
Still, on the day of the tests, Edwards is much like it is every day. As this is just a local ground test at Cape Kennedy, neither Houston or Edwards is connected to the control room. Instead they are running their own tests, doing their own calculations and working on their own research while waiting for Cape Kennedy to let them know the results of the test.
When they do, however, it's with tragic news. The test did not only fail, but a fire broke out, and the three astronauts inside the command module all died as the hatch, which opened inwards, became impossible to open in the pressurised environment. In 30 seconds, the fire burned through the cabin. Even in the best of circumstances it would have taken them three times as long to open the hatch.
For Arthur and his colleagues, the news are hard. Each and every one of them knew Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, as they had all trained at Edwards. This was just not an accident, but a personal loss of friends and former colleagues.
Back in Oasis Springs, the news has already aired by the time that Arthur comes home, well after the girls' bedtimes. Audie, who has been waiting up, anxiously following the news on TV, rushes to hold her husband as he comes through the door.
She listens as Arthur tells her what happened to the crew and the spacecraft, and about the astronauts themselves and their families. Each one of them had children, children that were now fatherless. To Audie, who remember the time after Kirk's death well, this sounds only all too familiar.
As the deaths of the astronauts throws Arthur into a midlife crisis, Audie is left to handle the preparations for their trip to Florida for the funeral. There is no question that they're going, and so Audie talks to Betty about taking the girls in for a few days as Arthur and she flies across the country.
The funeral itself is emotional. Neil Armstrong holds a touching eulogy and there is a moment of silence for the three men. Then they are put to their resting places in the cemetery outside the church. Their memory placks all read "Ad Astra per Aspera", translated to "Through Hardships to the Stars". Next to their graves a memorial is erected in the shape of the ship they never got to fly in.
For the space program, this is a big blow, and for now, all crewed Apollo flights are suspended for the time being, while the command module's hazards are investigated. For Arthur this means that he needs to be back at his desk as soon as possible. There are investigations on the way, and adjustments to be made. An accident like this just cannot be allowed to happen ever again.
Michael loves these parties, when he gets permission from his parents to go, that is. Mostly, this is when they don't know what's going on and think he and his friends are just going to the park after school. And technically, that's true. They do. And they do swim, play foosball, darts and ping pong like Michael tells his parents they are. It's just that they also dance and drink and make out which he simply "forgets" to tell them.
Micheal doesn't feel the least bit guilty for withholding information though, not when doing so gives him the courage to make a move on Linda, and - finally! - make out with her. Totally worth a small lie!
There are other types of parties in Oasis Springs too, like Josephine and Nash's joint 70th birthday party. A lot less wild, but nevertheless a pleasant evening together with the family, even if Michael in all honesty would rather lock lips with Linda than celebrating his grandparents. Still, he loves them, and so he can make do without Linda for a night. For Nash and Josephine, becoming elders is not that dramatic, but they do go over their wills, and make sure to decide what to leave each of their children.
As a new year begins, things are exciting at Edwards. After months of preparations and tests and advanced collaborations with colleagues from across the country, its time for the first major pre-launch test with a fully crewed Apollo spacecraft on the launch pad. The test itself is mostly routine, but the information gathered is important and an important step before launching the Apollo Command Module into space. This is where they will learn if they're calculations are correct. If the spacecraft systems, launch pad procedures and communication between astronauts and mission control work as it's supposed to.
Still, on the day of the tests, Edwards is much like it is every day. As this is just a local ground test at Cape Kennedy, neither Houston or Edwards is connected to the control room. Instead they are running their own tests, doing their own calculations and working on their own research while waiting for Cape Kennedy to let them know the results of the test.
When they do, however, it's with tragic news. The test did not only fail, but a fire broke out, and the three astronauts inside the command module all died as the hatch, which opened inwards, became impossible to open in the pressurised environment. In 30 seconds, the fire burned through the cabin. Even in the best of circumstances it would have taken them three times as long to open the hatch.
For Arthur and his colleagues, the news are hard. Each and every one of them knew Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, as they had all trained at Edwards. This was just not an accident, but a personal loss of friends and former colleagues.
Back in Oasis Springs, the news has already aired by the time that Arthur comes home, well after the girls' bedtimes. Audie, who has been waiting up, anxiously following the news on TV, rushes to hold her husband as he comes through the door.
She listens as Arthur tells her what happened to the crew and the spacecraft, and about the astronauts themselves and their families. Each one of them had children, children that were now fatherless. To Audie, who remember the time after Kirk's death well, this sounds only all too familiar.
As the deaths of the astronauts throws Arthur into a midlife crisis, Audie is left to handle the preparations for their trip to Florida for the funeral. There is no question that they're going, and so Audie talks to Betty about taking the girls in for a few days as Arthur and she flies across the country.
The funeral itself is emotional. Neil Armstrong holds a touching eulogy and there is a moment of silence for the three men. Then they are put to their resting places in the cemetery outside the church. Their memory placks all read "Ad Astra per Aspera", translated to "Through Hardships to the Stars". Next to their graves a memorial is erected in the shape of the ship they never got to fly in.
For the space program, this is a big blow, and for now, all crewed Apollo flights are suspended for the time being, while the command module's hazards are investigated. For Arthur this means that he needs to be back at his desk as soon as possible. There are investigations on the way, and adjustments to be made. An accident like this just cannot be allowed to happen ever again.
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