Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon

calling

• He had little interest in exploration or adventure. He'd joined NASA for a single purpose: to fight the Soviet Union on the world's new battlefield.

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• Marilyn was solo today, so she shook a cigarette loose and lit up by herself — alone on a sand dune three miles from the launch site.

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work-as-meaning

• All of a sudden it hit him: These NASA people are serious. They're going to send us to the Moon. My God, we really are doing this.

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• Susan remembered that call, and how close she had felt to Frank despite their distance — now, seventeen years later to the day.

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mortality

• None of them intended to waste that week, though they did not discuss the matter aloud. About a week after TEI failed, the men would suffocate.

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• He thought there was a one-third chance of a successful mission, a one-third chance of a failed mission, and a one-third chance they would not come home.

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