SPACERACE
The launch of the first satellite „Sputnik“ in 1957 by the soviets...
...marks the beginning of the spacerace between the two superpowers:
It‘s distinctive BEEP is audible all around the world, shocking America and humiliating their entire space program.
Until finally...
But let‘s start at the beginning. In 1961 THE U.S. was far behind the cold war rival when President John F. Kennedy saw the need for a vision of surpassing the Russians:
„I BELIEVE THAT THIS NATION SHOULD COMMIT ITSELF TO ACHIEVING THE GOAL, BEFORE THIS DECADE IS OUT, OF LANDING A MAN ON THE MOON AND RETURNING HIM SAFELY TO THE EARTH.“
Kapitel #2 Der Anfang
Meanwhile at NASA Headquarter
F*CK!
Kapitel #2 Der Anfang
„Jim, you know we aren‘t anywhere near of landing a man on the moon!“
Americas attempt to catch up in launching their own first satellite with Vangaurd TV3 ends in a humiliating disaster.
„What are we supposed to do now?!“
In his 20s and early 30s, von Braun was the central figure in the nazis‘ rocket program, responsible for the design of the V-2 combat rocket during World War II. After the war, he and some select members of his rocket team were taken to the U.S. as part of the secret operation „Paperclip“. Under NASA, he served as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon.
„Twenty seconds and counting...“
„T minus 15 seconds, guidance is internal“
„Twelve, 11, 10, 9, ignition sequence starts...“
...6, 5, 4...
...2, 1, zero, all engine running, LIFT-OFF!
000:00:04 „Tower cleared.“
000:03:13 We got skirt sep.
003:30:30 Apollo 11‘s velocity now 21,096 feet per second. Distance from Earth 6,649 nautical miles.
„Okay. I‘m going to step off the LM now.“
„That‘s one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.“
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn‘t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
Martin Knorr SS2014 Zeichnerische Grundlagen 2 GRAPHIC NOVEL Prof. Dipl.-Des. Ilka Helmig