Apollo Expeditions to the Moon
CHAPTER 7.9
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FLIGHT SURGEONS
Chuck Berry and Dick Johnston and their medical personnel also played an
important role as members of the Operations Team. Working with engineering personnel,
they developed the monitoring techniques used to observe the critical medical
parameters of man in flight. The flight surgeons' judgment and ability to assess the
astronauts' well-being in flight as well as their confidence in the crew's readiness to
undertake each of the missions were very necessary to achieving success. In the
beginning, there were some who doubted man's capability to even exist, let alone work,
in the environment of space. Chuck Berry had no such doubts and worked bard to
alleviate such concerns. I do not believe that we could have gotten to the Moon
without the contributions of the flight surgeons.
The Apollo Operations Team was a unique group brought together to accomplish
a successful landing on the Moon and return to Earth. I do not believe that the dedication
and the capabilities of these people have ever previously been duplicated, and
I doubt that such a group will ever be brought together again. A great amount of
preparation preceded the actual flying of an Apollo mission. The spacecraft had to be
designed, built, and tested, but the group that actually flew the mission was faced with
an awesome responsibility. President Truman had a sign on his desk in the White
House stating that "The buck stops here". This comment could well be applied to the
Apollo Operations Team. For these young men and women, the Apollo missions
were their finest hour - the truly great adventure of their lives as well as of mine.
