All That Outer Space Allows (Apollo Quartet Book 4) (19 page)

She feels wetness on her cheek and, surprised, reaches up to remove her sunglasses and dislodge a tear leaking from one eye.

Primly stable, whispers Lurton.

An older woman, the wife of a senator, Ginny thinks, Hart, something like that, she touches Ginny comfortingly on the shoulder and says, He’ll be fine, dear. You’ll see. You’re married to a proper hero.

The comment prompts a wan smile. Walden, a hero. She guesses he is, the way he risks his life for science and engineering on a daily basis; but Ginny and Lurton, they’re heroes too, because there’s always the possibility of that knock on the door, the neighbour come round to keep them company until some grim-faced male colleague turns up. And there’s keeping the home together, pretending they’re as confident about the mission as the men, presenting a model marriage and family to NASA and the world. Because Ginny knows about the hardware, she knows that those first fifteen seconds, as the Saturn V rises to clear the gantry, those are the most dangerous—because if one of the five F1 rocket engines fails, there’s still so much fuel aboard the other four wouldn’t be able to lift the rocket’s weight. Ginny knows this, and she’s pretty sure the others on the stand don’t.

Yet, despite everything she knows about the Saturn V and the Apollo command module and lunar module, despite everything Walden has explained to her, the guys at the Cape and back in Houston have explained to her, and she has read in the manuals and press kits, despite all this she knows Walden will come back home safely. She is convinced of that.

No, Ginny is not crying because she is worried she might never see her husband again. She is crying because she so badly wants to be in his place, to be crammed into that tiny command module heading for the Moon.

She is crying because she is watching her husband live
her
dream. She thinks of the years ahead, the nights she will spend sleeping beside, making love to, a man who has walked on the Moon. Her only way to cope is to take something she loves and refashion it so she can lay her impossible dream to rest within it. She will continue to rewrite the space program in science fiction as an entirely female enterprise because it is all she can do.

But no matter how audacious, it will never be a substitute—and she knows the pain of it will never fade.

#

NOTES

- Galaxy table of contents adapted from Galaxy Magazine, February 1968, Vol 26 No. 3

- neither Virginia Leith, Grace Kelly nor Suzy Parker starred in more than a dozen feature films each. Some are definitely worth seeing. Virginia Leith: VIOLENT SATURDAY (1955), ON THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE (1956), A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956), TOWARD THE UNKNOWN (1956), THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE (1962). Grace Kelly: HIGH NOON (1952), MOGAMBO (1953), DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954), REAR WINDOW (1954), THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI (1954), THE COUNTRY GIRL (1954), GREEN FIRE (1954), TO CATCH A THIEF (1955), THE SWAN (1956), HIGH SOCIETY (1956). Suzy Parker: KISS THEM FOR ME (1957), TEN NORTH FREDERICK (1958), THE BEST OF EVERYTHING (1959), A CIRCLE OF DECEPTION (1960), THE INTERNS (1962), FLIGHT FROM ASHIYA (1964).

- NASA Group 6 news release adapted from NASA news release 66-022: www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/1966_1968/

- artwork for ‘The Spaceships Men Don’t See’ by Ian Sales

- LM Crew Compartment Familiarization Phase I A taken from LUNAR MODULE ORIENTATION GUIDE & COMPARTMENT FAMILIARIZATION, Robert Godwin (20019, Apogee Books, 978-1-926592-11-4)

- Galaxy LOC inspired by real letters in Galaxy Magazine, February 1975, Vol. 36, No. 2

- the Judith Merril story is, of course, ‘The Lady Was a Tramp’, although the real version has the genders reversed as described here

- Lunar Module (LM) insert taken from Apollo 15 press kit: http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/A15_PressKit.pdf

- Wal Eckhardt Wikipedia entry adapted from the Wikipedia entry on James B Irwin, and used under Creative Commons licence

- table of A7L materials taken from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum web site: http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/multimedia/detail.cfm?id=5219

- Apollo 11 EVA transcript excerpt taken from Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal

- Apollo 15 Launch NASA news release adapted from Apollo 15 press kit: http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/A15_PressKit.pdf

- Hadley-Apennine Landing Site excerpt take from Apollo 15 press kit: http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/A15_PressKit.pdf

- SF Encyclopedia entry on VG Parker: layout used by kind permission, and editorial assistance, of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, www.sf-encyclopedia.com

YOU HAVE BEEN READING ABOUT…

writers and editors

Joan Patricia Basch (published 1966 to 1967)

Faye Beslow (published 1952 to 1953)

Doris Pitkin Buck (published 1952 to 1975)

Jane Beauclerk (AKA MJ Engh, published 1964 to 1995)

Leigh Brackett (published 1940 to 1976)

Betsy Curtis (published 1950 to 1973)

Miriam Allen deFord (published 1946 to 1974)

Gertrude Friedberg (published 1958 to 1972)

Alice Eleanor Jones (published 1955)

Cele Goldsmith (editor, 1957 to 1965)

Clare Winger Harris (published 1926 to 1930)

Hazel Heald (published 1932 to 1935)

Zenna Henderson (published 1951 to 1982)

Ursula K Le Guin (published 1961 to present)

June Lurie (published 1946 to 1953)

Linda Marlowe (published 1967)

Anne McCaffrey (published 1953 to 2011)

Judith Merril (published 1948 to 1985)

CL ‘Catherine’ Moore (published 1930 to 1958)

Andre ‘Alice’ Norton (published 1939 to 2004)

Evelyn Paige (editor, 1951 to 1956)

Doris Piserchia (published 1966 to 1983)

Kit Reed (published 1958 to present)

Joanna Russ (published 1959 to 1996)

Josephine Saxton (published 1965 to 1992)

Monica Sterba (AKA Frances Oliver, published 1964 to 2010)

Francis Stevens (AKA Gertrude Burrows Bennett, published 1904 to 1923)

Leslie F Stone (published 1929 to 1940)

Kay Tarrant (editor, 1942 to 1972)

James Tiptree Jr (AKA Alice B ‘Ali’ Sheldon, Raccoona Sheldon, published 1968 to 1987)

Susan Trott (published 1967)

Sydney J Van Scyoc (published 1962 to 2005)

Kate Wilhelm (published 1956 to 2012)

astronaut wives club

Joan Aldrin (Fourteen)

Valerie Anders (Fourteen)

Janet Armstrong (New Nine)

Jeannie Bassett (Fourteen)

Sue Bean (Fourteen)

Susan Borman (New Nine)

Joan Brand (Original Nineteen)

Nancy Bull (Original Nineteen)

Rene Carpenter (Original Seven)

JoAnn Carr (Original Nineteen)

Barbara Cernan (Fourteen)

Martha Chaffee (Fourteen)

Pat Collins (Fourteen)

Jane Conrad (New Nine)

Trudy Cooper (Original Seven)

Loella Cunningham (Fourteen)

Dotty Duke (Original Nineteen)

Harriet Eisele (Fourteen)

Mary Engle (Original Nineteen)

Jan Evans (Original Nineteen)

Faith Freeman (Fourteen)

Ada Givens (Original Nineteen)

Barbara Gordon (Fourteen)

Betty Grissom (Original Seven)

Mary Haise (Original Nineteen)

Kathleen Lind (Original Nineteen)

Grati Lousma (Original Nineteen)

Marilyn Lovell (New Nine)

Liz Mattingly (Original Nineteen)

Bernice McCandless (Original Nineteen)

Pat McDivitt (New Nine)

Louise Mitchell (Original Nineteen)

Wanita Pogue (Original Nineteen)

Joan Roosa (Original Nineteen)

Jo Schirra (Original Seven)

Clare Schweikart (Fourteen)

Lurton Scott (Fourteen)

Marilyn See (New Nine)

Louise Shepard (Original Seven)

Marge Slayton (Original Seven)

Faye Stafford (New Nine)

Susan Weitz (Original Nineteen)

Pat White (New Nine)

Beth Williams (Fourteen)

Pam Worden (Original Nineteen)

Barbara Young (New Nine)

… and Mary Irwin (Original Nineteen)

astronauts

Buzz Aldrin, USAF (Gemini 12, Apollo 11 LMP)

Bill Anders, USAF (Apollo 8 LMP)

Neil Armstrong, civ (Gemini 8, Apollo 11 commander)

Charlie Bassett, USAF (died during training)

Al Bean, USN (Apollo 12 LMP)

Frank Borman, USAF (Gemini 7, Apollo 8 commander)

Scott Carpenter, USN (Aurora 7)

Gene Cernan, USN (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 LMP, Apollo 17 commander)

Roger Chaffee, USN (died Apollo 1 fire)

Pete Conrad, USN (Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12 commander)

Michael Collins, USAF (Gemini 10, Apollo 11 CMP)

Gordo Cooper, USAF (Faith 7, Gemini 5)

Walter Cunningham, USMC (Apollo 7 LMP)

Charlie Duke, USAF (Apollo 16 LMP)

Donn Eisele, USAF (Apollo 7 CMP)

Joe Engle, USAF (did not fly in Apollo program)

Ron Evans, USN (Apollo 17 CMP)

Teddy Freeman, USAF (died during training)

Dick Gordon, USN (Gemini 11, Apollo 12 CMP)

Gus Grissom, USAF (Liberty Bell 7, Gemini 3, died Apollo 1 Fire)

Fred Haise, civ (Apollo 13 LMP)

Jim Lovell, USN (Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 CMP, Apollo 13 commander)

Ken Mattingly, USN (Apollo 16 CMP)

Ed Mitchell, USN (Apollo 14 LMP)

Jim McDivitt, USAF (Gemini 4, Apollo 9 commander)

Stu Roosa, USAF (Apollo 14 CMP)

Elliot See, civ (died during training)

Wally Schirra, USN (Sigma 7, Gemini 6A, Apollo 7 commander)

Rusty Schweickart, USAF (Apollo 9 LMP)

Dave Scott, USAF (Gemini 8, Apollo 9 CMP, Apollo 15 commander)

Alan Shepard, USN (Freedom 7, Apollo 14 commander)

Deke Slayton, USAF (ASTP docking module pilot)

Tom Stafford, USAF (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 commander)

Jack Swigert, civ (Apollo 13 CMP)

Ed White, USAF (Gemini 4, died Apollo 1 fire)

Clifton Williams, USMC (died during training)

Al Worden, USAF (Apollo 15 CMP)

John Young, USN (Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10 CMP, Apollo 16 commander)

… and Jim Irwin, USAF (Apollo 15 LMP)

others

Dee O’Hara, chief nurse to the astronauts

Joe Schmitt, suit technician

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-American astronomer

Janey Hart, aviator and member of the Mercury 13

FURTHER READING

_Arnason, Eleanor: ‘The Warlord of Saturn’s Moons’ (1974, NEW WORLDS 7, ed. Hilary Bailey & Charles Platt)

_Dorman, Sonya: ‘When I Was Miss Dow’ (1966, GALAXY MAGAZINE, Jun 1966)

_Emshwiller, Carol: ‘Idol’s Eye’ (1958, FUTURE SCIENCE FICTION #35, Feb 1958)

_Fowler, Karen Joy: ‘What I Didn’t See’ (2002, SCI FICTION, Jul 2002)

_Jones, Alice Eleanor: ‘Created He Them’ (1955, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jun 1955)

_Merril, Judith: ‘That Only A Mother’ (1948, Astounding Science Fiction, Jun 1948)

___: ‘Daughters of Earth’ (1952, THE PETRIFIED PLANET, No ISBN)

_Reed, Kit: ‘Songs of War’ (1974, NOVA 4, ed. Harry Harrison)

_Russ, Joanna: ‘When It Changed’ (1972, AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS, ed. Harlan Ellison)

___: ‘An Old-Fashioned Girl’ (1974, FINAL STAGE, ed. Edward L Ferman & Barry N Malzberg)

_Saxton, Josephine: ‘The Triumphant Head’ (1970, ALCHEMY AND ACADEME, ed. Anne McCaffrey)

___: ‘Dormant Soul’ (1969, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Feb 1969)

_Tiptree Jr, James: ‘The Women Men Don’t See’ (1973, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Dec 1973)

_Tuttle, Lisa: ‘Wives’ (1979, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Dec 1979)

_Wilhelm, Kate: ‘The Funeral’ (1972, AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS, ed. Harlan Ellison)

_Zoline, Pamela: ‘The Heat Death of the Universe’ (1967, NEW WORLDS SPECULATIVE FICTION, Jul 1967)

Many of these stories have been subsequently collected and are available in a variety of venues. Check
www.isfdb.org
for details.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

_Armstrong, Neil, Michael Collins & Edwin E Aldrin Jr: FIRST ON THE MOON (1970, Little, Brown, No ISBN)

_Bostick, Michael, Brian Grazer & Ron Howard: FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1998, Clavius Base, Go Flight Inc, Imagine Entertainment)

_Bowman, Martin W: STRATOFORTRESS, THE STORY OF THE B-52 (2005, Pen & Sword, 1-84415-234-0)

_Brookes, Courtney G, James M Grimwood & Loyd S Swenson Jr: CHARIOTS FOR APOLLO: A HISTORY OF MANNED LUNAR SPACECRAFT (1979, NASA, No ISBN)

_Caidin, Martin: THE CAPE (1971, Doubleday, No ISBN)

_Davin, Eric Leif: PARTNERS IN WONDER (2006, Lexington Books, 978-0-7391-1267-0)

_de Monchaux, Nicholas: SPACESUIT – FASHIONING APOLLO (2011, The MIT Press, 978-0-262-01520-2)

_Dethloff, Henry C: SUDDENLY, TOMORROW CAME… A HISTORY OF THE JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (1993, NASA, No ISBN)