"Kristine Kathryn Rusch -- Recovering Apollo 8" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

They spoke of the plainness of the Moon, and the beauty of the Earth viewed from
beyond. Apparently, on a closed circuit, they spoke to their wives and children one final time.
They belonged to the Earth, as long as the radio signal held. As long as their oxygen held.
As long as their hope held.
That was what Richard remembered: he remembered the hope.

No one played the tape any longer of Lovell, Borman, and Anders, talk-ing about the
future. The future had come and gone. What reporters and documentarians and historians
played nowadays were the goodbyes, or, if they were more charitable, the descriptions of
Earth—how beautiful it looked; how small; how united.

It's hard to believe, Lovell said in what would become his most famous quote, that such
a beautiful place can house so many angry people. From a distance, it looks like the
entire planet is at peace.

Of course it wasn't.

But that didn't concern Richard then.

What worried him—what frightened him—was that this failure of the space program
would end the program.
It worried the astronauts as well. They made a joint appeal with what would be damn
close to their last breath.

This is not a failure. We're proud to be the first humans to venture be-yond the Moon.
Please continue the space program. Get us to the Moon. Get a base on the Moon. Send
another group to explore the solar system —one who can report back to you. Do it in our
name, and with our blessing.

Merry Christmas to all.

And to all, a good night.

That broadcast brought Richard's mother to tears. Richard's father put a strong hand on
Richard's shoulder. And Walter Cronkite, that stalwart adult, removed his glasses, rubbed
his eyes for a moment, and gathered himself, much as he had done five years earlier when
a president died un-expectedly.

Cronkite did not say much more. He did not play the radio reports from the bitter end.
He let Lovell, Borman and Anders' desired last statement be their last statement.
He did not speculate on the means of their deaths, nor did he focus on the failure.

He focused on the future.

He focused on the hope.
And so did Richard—
 At least, he tried.

But while he worked toward the conquest of space, while he studied his physics and