Ep 11: The Original Wives' Club

From the Earth to the Moon: A Retrospective Podcast on The Apollo Program

Shows the Apollo program from the point of view of the nine wives of NASA's second group of astronauts, from 1962 beyond the end of the program. The burdens placed on them include maintaining a home while presenting a positive image to the news media, shielding their husbands from any family concerns which could affect their position in the flight rotation or ability to return to Earth safely, and comforting each other in the face of tragedy as Elliot See and Ed White are killed. The episode is anchored by the Apollo 16 mission, during which recently married Ken Mattingly loses his wedding ring in the Command Module, and Lunar Module pilot Charles Duke finds it while Mattingly is performing a walk in deep space.

Episode 11 links:

Long article about Jan Armstrong

Telegraph article about Astronaut Wives Club

Interesting blog post about astronaut wives

Life Magazine article about Marilyn Lovell

Pat White obituary from The New York Times (Sept 8, 1983)