Apollo - Heroes or Villains?

I've been doing a lot of reading on the Apollo missions over the past couple of months and I've really enjoyed seeing the different perspectives on the missions, the programme, and the participants that I've come across. This got me thinking about who the real heroes of the Apollo phenomenon were, and who the villains were (if any). Feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and so on. If the response is big enough, maybe we can make an article out of it for John's Arcturus Lunar special.

My Heroes;

Neil Armstrong.
Seeing this guy talk last year, as well as the reaction people had to him, was incredible. Sure, it was just fate (and Deke Slayton) that put him there first, but his response and reaction to such a privelige speaks volumes about the man.

Gene Kranz.
The archetypal Mission Controller who never quits, never gives in, tells his crew that "Failure is not an option" and looks cool in a white vest.

John Aaron.
This "steely-eyed missle man" was the ultimate in EECOM controllers who saved Apollo 12 and Apollo 13.

Gene Cernan.
If Armstrong dealt with being first in an admirable way, then Cernan complemented him with the distinction and sense he showed as the last. He gave the world a challenge, and nobody has answered it yet. I also really like his last act on the Moon; he wrote his daughter's name in the dust on the surface. This just seems like such a normal thing to do, despite the abnormal setting.

My Villains.
Alan Bean.
The LMP of Apollo 12, fourth man on the Moon and the tool who fritzed the TV camera by pointing it at the sun. This foolish act lead to TV networks being left hanging, the public being disappointed, and ultimately, perhaps, to a loss of interest in the Moon programme.

Buzz Aldrin.
His triumphant space-walk at the end of the Gemini programme is reason enough to dislike the guy. So is his behaviour before the Apollo 11 landing when he argued like a spoilt child and fought to be first out. But, the way he flogs his autograph and just seems so eager to profit from his experience is horrible.

Two to add on the heroes side:

John Young - consummate professional, did spectacularly well as CMP on Apollo 10 and as CDR on 16. After all, he managed to put Snoopy down on the only flat bit of real estate at Descartes!!!! And who'll ever forget the orange juice remarks........

Dave Scott - his performance as CDR on Apollo 15 was the high point of scientific exploration during Apollo, the stamp scandal notwithstanding. Met him a few weeks ago at the Air & Space Museum, very nice and approachable guy I have to say!

I think you're a bit harsh on Bean - they had only a bare bit of training time with the TV camera, but it was a genuine mistake for which he beat himself up over for quite a while afterwards. And really, the poor PR of NASA at the time plus the long layover after Apollo 13 really killed public interest in the program, rather than Bean's screwup. As for his performance during Apollo 12, he did his job as LMP extremely well (as shown during the launch lightening strike), so much so that he landed the CDR job on Skylab 3 and would have flown an early Shuttle flight (STS-9) if he hadn't decided to become an artist fullt ime.

Villains?

Al Shepard and Ed Mitchell: Apollo 14 was all about Shepard's ego, and thus the science return was the poorest of all the Apollo flights. The loss of the Fra Mauro EVAs from Apollo 13 were a blow, especially as Lovell and Haise would have been superb - Shepard and Mitchell's performances were barely adequate, in particular the failure to find Cone Crater.

Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham - the mutiny during Apollo 7 killed Eisele and Cunningham's astronaut careers. Schirra was retiring anyway, but it was still poor judgement on his part.

Agree with you about Buzz - several astronauts have talked about the less savoury side of Buzz's character. They are also convinced that if it wasn't for See and Bassett's untimely death in that T-38 crash, Buzz would never have got near a lunar landing. (Buzz only got the PLT role on GT-12 due to the reshuffling after the T-38 crash, and probably otherwise would have been shunted off to AAP.)

Hey Brian,

I agree I am being harsh on Al Bean - it was a mistake, a pure accident that could have happened to anyone, but it was a really unfortunate event that I think had ramifications down the line ragarding publicity, public interest and support.

Dave Scott was definitely a scientist/astronaut - perhaps even more than Jack Schmitt. His Galileo experiment was class! You lucky name-dropper you!

Al Shepherd should never have flown 14. Andy Chaikin tells of how Armstrong and Conrad were offered the subsequent flights if 11 and 12 couldn't land, but the whole routine-ness of it by 13 meant Lovell lost out on 14. Speaking of Lovell, it's interesting that he's so kind to Schirra in Apollo 13 (the book) when the man was plainly, obviously, an asshole of the highest order. Similarly Lovell is kind to Aldrin, while Scott and Kranz and Cernan (especially Cernan, but who can blame him after the hellish time he had on his space-walk) paint him as a tool.

By the way, are you going to see Gay Byrne interview Buzz Aldrin? It would be great to see the theme continuing, although the next 'best known' apollo astronaut would probably be Lovell.

Hi Shane.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to go to Buzz's talk - my boss would never forgive me for trotting across the Atlantic again so soon, plus I need to take time off after Christmas as I need it off for a honeymoon

Terrible name dropper, aren't i? Scott had a book signing at the NASM three weeks ago - very nice guy, was quite happy to sign my book, got my photo taken with him and was able to chat with him! He also did a Q and A session for an hour - amazingly, there was only about 10 of us there, and I was standing right next to him! Bit of a difference from Armstrong's talk last year - and this was right in the middle of the NASM, with loads of people passing by unaware that a real live Moonwaker was in their midst!!!!

BTW, 16's LM was of course 'Orion' - I'm jetlagged, that's my excuse

Brian

Moonwalker even - told you I'm jetlagged!

Brian

Was that Dave Scott book the one he wrote with Alexei Leonov? Two Sides of the Moon is the title I think. Very interesting read.