The Highlands of Fra Mauro

[bnewman]

The crew of Apollo 13, like the crew of the Nightingale, were forced to abandon ship in a lifeboat whose designed crew capacity was one short of the number to be saved.  Luckily they had NASA engineers to help them fit a square peg into a round hole.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "The Flowers of Bermuda" by Stan Rogers

listen to this song

/ G C GD G / GD- GD- / GC- G C /[i. G DG- :/[ii. GC GD - /

 

He was the captain of the Odyssey

Racing across the lunar sky

He could see the highlands of Fra Mauro in his lee

But he had to pass them by

 

Fifty-six hours out from Kennedy

More than halfway to the moon they were

When Capcom said, roll right to 60, null your rates

And give your O2 tanks a stir

 

No sooner had the pilot stirred the tanks

Came a rending crash below

The crew were thrown against the bulkheads as she pitched

With the fury of the blow

 

Oh, Houston, are we to be stranded

In the cold expanse of space?

The service module's fuel cell valves are all shut down

We've no reserves for such a case!

 

Oh are ye brave and hardy astronauts

Or are ye blind and cannot see?

The lunar module lies before ye whole and sound

It shall carry all o' thee

 

He was the captain of the Odyssey

Racing across the lunar sky

He could see the highlands of Fra Mauro in his lee

But he had to pass them by

 

But won't three men breathe out more CO2

Than a two-man ship can bear?

What can we do?  The LEM's air filter ports are round

The CM's cartridges are square!

 

The engineers were all assembled

For if they could not find a way

The crew'd be lost, but a procedure was devised

And socks and duct tape saved the day

 

He was the captain of the Odyssey

Racing across the lunar sky

He could see the highlands of Fra Mauro in his lee

But he had to pass them by

 

O there be highlands in Fra Mauro

The lunar hills stand steep and stark

And there be knowledge and much glory to be gained

Now other boots must make that mark

 

But in six days, when six long minutes

Of re-entry came and passed

The watching world saw the long-suffering Odyssey

Splashing safely down at last

 

He was the captain of the Odyssey

Racing across the lunar sky

He could see the highlands of Fra Mauro in his lee

But he had to pass them by