Apollo: The Race To The Moon

by Catherine Bly Cox

As the meeting was winding down, Gus Grissom asked for the floor and pulled out two photographs from a large envelope. They were identical, but with different inscriptions. The picture showed Grissom, White, and Chaffee seated behind a table on which a small model of the Apollo capsule rested. Their heads were bowed, hands steepled in a caricature of prayer. Grissom gave the first copy to Stormy Storms, general manager of the North American Space Division. “We’ve got one for Joe Shea also,” Grissom said, and passed the second photograph down the table to him. “Joe advised us to practice our backup procedures religiously, so here we are practicing.” There was loud laughter. The picture, signed by all three astronauts, was inscribed, “It isn’t that we don’t trust you, Joe, but this time we’ve decided to go over your head.”