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National Geographic : 1969 Dec
Contents
II: Sounds of the Space Age A record narrated by Astronaut FRANK BORMAN THEY WERE EERIE, those first electronic beeps. Later came the voices, exultant in the thrill of discovery. Each sound leap ing the chasm of space bore to a rapt world the drama of man's venture into the airless Pressed on vinyl flexible enough to be bound into the magazine, yet durable enough for excellent sound reproduc tion, this record-issued in an edition of 61/2 million copies stands as another milestone in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC "Gee, you look great!" exclaimed President Nixon, greeting the re turned crew of Apollo 11 in the mobile quarantine facility on board the carrier U.S.S. Hornet.Accompanied by Astronaut Frank Borman, the President speaks with Armstrong, left, Collins, and Aldrin. void beyond his home planet. That drama-culminating in the first landing on the moon-comes vividly alive in the special recording, "Sounds of the Space Age, From Sput nik to Lunar Landing," pre sented to the National Geo graphic Society's worldwide membership with this issue. Its narrator: Col. Frank Bor man, firm friend and eight year member of the Society, whose voice was heard by mil lions last December when he and his companions in Apollo 8 became the first men to or bit the moon. 750 history. This is the second time the Society's magazine has marked an era with dis tribution of a record. Our first, in the August 1965 issue, brought to members the voice and funeral of the Allies' great World War II leader, Sir Winston Churchill. For the "Sounds of Space," your Society brought together recordings from all possible sources: NASA, the United States Air Force-even Radio Moscow, which provided the voice of Yuri Gagarin, first man in space (page 751). From this 12-year wealth of auditory history of space ex ploration, Joseph Judge, of the Society's Senior Editorial Staff, and Jon H. Larimore, staff audiovisual engineer, dis tilled 10 minutes and 51 sec onds of playing time. As America's first orbital flight begins, you will hear a controller's prayerful benedic tion: "May God speed John Glenn." You will hear Ed White's ecstatic voice as he walks in space-and returns with laughing reluctance. You will hear Neil Arm strong's historic words as he sets foot on the moon: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." To ensure a record of the highest quality (electronic fil tering has improved the clarity of many of the voices), your Society recorded the complete Apollo 11 space-ground com munications, piped by two phone lines from NASA'S God dard Space Flight Center. At Society headquarters, die sel generators, a safeguard against power failures, drove the recorders. The Apollo 11 tapes, on 95 10-inch reels, now form a part of your Society's growing au diovisual library-a part that is literally out of this world. HOW TO REMOVE THE RECORD Hold magazine with left hand and grasp vinyl sheet in upper right hand corner with right thumb and forefinger; pull vinyl to separate from top staple. In the same way, free record from bottom staple. Pull away excess plastic at perforations to make record square. On auto matic phonographs use "Manual" setting. If record slips or makes a rumbling sound, tape it to another record.
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