The Whittaker Saga

While tensions are high at Thomas and Betty's, Arthur and his family are preparing for a birthday party. 1970 and 71 has been intense. The failure of Apollo 13 meant all current projects had to be reviewed and reexamined with upgraded emergency response protocols and extensive failure-mode simulations, while the fact that the Soviet launched the first space station, and then successfully docked with it a few months later, meant a double down on the attempts to create something similar. Over all of Edwards, focus shifted, from getting to the moon (now that they had) to being able to stay up in space for longer, and then land - rather than splash down - on reentry making them reusable. Projects such as M2-F3 and X-24A, focusing on what was called "lifting body technology" (being able to glide and land) meant Arthur spent his days pouring over wind tunnel data, telemetry, and prepping for post-flight debriefs with pilots. At home, however, the girls were getting bigger, wild...

For years, Arthur has been working towards one single goal. To see the rockets he helped design and build reach the moon. For years, there has been successes and disappointments, sorrows and joys - but nothing can compare to the feeling of seeing all his hard work finally come to fruition as it's time for the US to land on the moon. With other missions, Arthur has been following the event from Edwards control room, but this time Edwards is not one of the contact stations, so Arthur gets the rare opportunity to watch events unfold on TV, together with his family. They've gathered everyone in the house, the chairs are moved to stand in front of the TV, the dining table turned into a buffet table as everyone gathers in the living room, plates in their knees as they watch events unfold. There is talking, comments and a lot of shushing when the commenters speak, as children and adults alike are glued to the events on the screen. For Arthur, it's a nervous day, especially at touc...