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♪ Music ♪

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We were that first crew
that was going to get a

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chance to fly this vehicle
and test this vehicle.

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That was going to take
human beings to Moon.

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♪ Music ♪

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We were very, very aware
of the time pressure and

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everything has to
go right if we're

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for sure going
to meet Kennedy's

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goal getting to the Moon
in that decade and back.

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Apollo 9 was an
engineering mission from

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beginning to end.

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We tested every possible
thing that could be

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tested.

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The mission was completely
dedicated to testing the

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systems, the engines, and
guidance and navigation,

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all kinds of things that
we could do in Earth

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orbit.

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So, when we first got into
orbit we had a lot of

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stuff to do and so we
needed to make sure that

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we had all the
data we could get.

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♪ Music ♪

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The Lunar Module had to
land on the Moon, I mean,

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that's what it was designed for
and then it had to get

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back up to the Command Module
so there was a ride home.

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♪ Music ♪

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How does that sports
car handle Jim?

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Pretty nice.

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Really very difficult to
get the coordinates system

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in your head.

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Normally we dock looking
out this way and for the

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docking with the Lunar
Module you had to look up

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this way.

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So the control
system didn't

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operate the way
it normally would.

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I mean it was the most
complicated, messy system

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of springs and levers and
latches and unbelievably

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complex.

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♪ Music ♪

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We depressurized both
the Lunar Module and the

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Command Module and Rusty
was going to get out and

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transfer over to the
Command Module and we were

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doing that to see
that it could be done.

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I'm part way up the front of
the Lunar Module making

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sure I could safely do
that and not poke holes in

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the suit with the
antennas and things.

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And everything was quiet,
nobody was talking, that

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beautiful Earth out
there, I mean, that's

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what I really saw, just
the beauty of where I was.

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Dave wanted to get out of
the spacecraft too, so we,

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part of the mission was
for him to open up the

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hatch so we were all
out there in a vacuum.

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Here we are at this
historic moment that we

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are all part of, not
just the astronauts, but

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everybody who's

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alive today and we're

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all on this small
planet as representative

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of life.

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We're beginning to move out
from this planet which as

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far as we know, contains
all of the life in our

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little corner
of the universe.

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♪ Music ♪

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It just worked
beautifully.