- Historic Sites First Step To The Moon The first American to
leave the Earth's atmosphere recalls the momentous flight that
put us on a course for the moon. July/August 1994 | Volume 45,
Issue 4 The irony of playing second fiddle to a chimpanzee was
particularly galling to us. NASA had decided to send a chimp
into space before sending me. I protested again and again, but
NASA insisted the little ape go first. The agency meant well.
But all I could think about were Russian boosters rolling to
their pads for the first manned space flight. There were other
frictions too. At the Cape I spent most of my time in a
“procedures trainer.” This was a replica of the actual spaceship
that would boost me more than one hundred miles into space. It
also duplicated the severe semi-supine flight position, with the
pilot lying on his back, legs vertical to the knees and then
dropped down so that he was shaped like a squared-off pretzel.
No one liked the trainer. It was like taking a straight-backed
chair, placing it on its ba