Read Online The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lily Koppel
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anyone, but you have your arms around the man who’ll be the first in space!”
“Who let a Russian in here?” was Louise’s naughty reply.
The only catch, Alan explained, was that though he was definitely going to be first , NASA wanted to withhold the news until the day of the launch. This would protect Louise and the girls. Otherwise, the press would be all over them like on that first day.
NASA told the press that the choice would be among the three men—Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Gus Grissom. Life promptly nicknamed them the Gold Team. (The editors acted like it had always been clear that these three were the most impressive of the seven.)
Louise couldn’t tell her two youngest girls, her daughter Julie and her niece, Alice, both of whom were chatty little girls and would surely tell their secret. Louise did tell her oldest daughter, Laura, who was thirteen and, like her mother before her, attending Principia boarding school. For Laura it was torture keeping the secret, as it must have been for Louise. “It’s going to be John Glenn,” Laura’s friends at school taunted. Laura, who was blonde and as competitive as her dad, had to bite her tongue because she had been sworn to secrecy.
The launch was scheduled to take place in the spring. All of the wives were counting on “Miss Frosty” to show them how a proper wife acted when her husband was shot up into space. Louise knew the worst could happen on Alan’s shot, but she didn’t give in to her fears. She sat calmly and worked her needlepoint. In Life ’s first feature on the wives, under the headline “Just Go Right Ahead, by Louise Shepard,” Louise told readers, “I suppose I have the same faith in technology that most Americans have: this continuous steady feeling that the wheels of the car will turn and the brakes will work when I come to the next stop light. But I am a Christian Scientist and have a strong spiritual faith. If the brakes don’t work, I know that something else will.”
In the accompanying photo, she was wearing Bermuda shorts and a sleeveless white oxford blouse. She was dealing out a game of four-way solitaire to her girls, who wore outfits identical to their mother’s. Her serene smile hid a tremendous will to keep everything looking perfect at their home.
Louise’s “Who let a Russian in here?” comment to Alan turned out to be not so witty as when she’d made it. In April 1961, when Alan’s launch was originally scheduled, NASA delayed the flight, suddenly wanting to make two additional tests of the Redstone rocket, including one with Ham the chimp. In the meantime, Alan was beaten to the chase by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who made history by actually orbiting Earth.
A reporter woke up Shorty Powers early one morning at the Cape to get NASA’s reaction. A groggy Shorty yelled into the phone, “We’re all asleep down here!” The morning’s headline followed: “Soviets Put Man in Space. Spokesman Says U.S. Asleep.” Alan was disgusted. “We had ’em,” he said. “We had ’em by the shorthairs and we gave it away.”
Alan was already in his capsule on the day of his flight when the big announcement was made that he was the One. Then the weather fouled up and the launch had to be postponed. Now that the surprise was blown, Louise worried that on the day of his rescheduled launch, May 5, she would be completely overrun by the press. She called the local police, but the chief’s only suggestion was “Why don’t you book yourself into a motel under a new name, lady?”
Louise decided she simply couldn’t run away. She would speak to the press, but not until Alan was safely back on Earth. Still, there was one reporter and one photographer in her home with her. The Life contract stipulated that they would have intimate access to the astronauts’ wives during their husbands’ flights. So Louise had to smile and remain calm as Life looked on.
The night before the launch, Louise tiptoed out on her
“Who let a Russian in here?” was Louise’s naughty reply.
The only catch, Alan explained, was that though he was definitely going to be first , NASA wanted to withhold the news until the day of the launch. This would protect Louise and the girls. Otherwise, the press would be all over them like on that first day.
NASA told the press that the choice would be among the three men—Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Gus Grissom. Life promptly nicknamed them the Gold Team. (The editors acted like it had always been clear that these three were the most impressive of the seven.)
Louise couldn’t tell her two youngest girls, her daughter Julie and her niece, Alice, both of whom were chatty little girls and would surely tell their secret. Louise did tell her oldest daughter, Laura, who was thirteen and, like her mother before her, attending Principia boarding school. For Laura it was torture keeping the secret, as it must have been for Louise. “It’s going to be John Glenn,” Laura’s friends at school taunted. Laura, who was blonde and as competitive as her dad, had to bite her tongue because she had been sworn to secrecy.
The launch was scheduled to take place in the spring. All of the wives were counting on “Miss Frosty” to show them how a proper wife acted when her husband was shot up into space. Louise knew the worst could happen on Alan’s shot, but she didn’t give in to her fears. She sat calmly and worked her needlepoint. In Life ’s first feature on the wives, under the headline “Just Go Right Ahead, by Louise Shepard,” Louise told readers, “I suppose I have the same faith in technology that most Americans have: this continuous steady feeling that the wheels of the car will turn and the brakes will work when I come to the next stop light. But I am a Christian Scientist and have a strong spiritual faith. If the brakes don’t work, I know that something else will.”
In the accompanying photo, she was wearing Bermuda shorts and a sleeveless white oxford blouse. She was dealing out a game of four-way solitaire to her girls, who wore outfits identical to their mother’s. Her serene smile hid a tremendous will to keep everything looking perfect at their home.
Louise’s “Who let a Russian in here?” comment to Alan turned out to be not so witty as when she’d made it. In April 1961, when Alan’s launch was originally scheduled, NASA delayed the flight, suddenly wanting to make two additional tests of the Redstone rocket, including one with Ham the chimp. In the meantime, Alan was beaten to the chase by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who made history by actually orbiting Earth.
A reporter woke up Shorty Powers early one morning at the Cape to get NASA’s reaction. A groggy Shorty yelled into the phone, “We’re all asleep down here!” The morning’s headline followed: “Soviets Put Man in Space. Spokesman Says U.S. Asleep.” Alan was disgusted. “We had ’em,” he said. “We had ’em by the shorthairs and we gave it away.”
Alan was already in his capsule on the day of his flight when the big announcement was made that he was the One. Then the weather fouled up and the launch had to be postponed. Now that the surprise was blown, Louise worried that on the day of his rescheduled launch, May 5, she would be completely overrun by the press. She called the local police, but the chief’s only suggestion was “Why don’t you book yourself into a motel under a new name, lady?”
Louise decided she simply couldn’t run away. She would speak to the press, but not until Alan was safely back on Earth. Still, there was one reporter and one photographer in her home with her. The Life contract stipulated that they would have intimate access to the astronauts’ wives during their husbands’ flights. So Louise had to smile and remain calm as Life looked on.
The night before the launch, Louise tiptoed out on her
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