If I was sitting in a vessel that was attached to a giant firework, knowing that over a dozen of my colleagues had been killed in on-board explosions, I think I'd need a swift one before take-off.
Senator John Glenn - the first American to orbit the Earth - was once asked how he felt as he sat on the launch pad waiting for lift-off. He replied:
'I felt as good as anyone would, sitting in a capsule on top of a rocket that were both built by the lowest bidder.'
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American astronaut Gordon Cooper managed to fall asleep during the countdown - which worried mission control, as they couldn't work out what had happened to him.
The incident is described in Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff.
I shall make sure I read it.
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