He squeezed Laura’s hand tightly and led them up off the beach, two joined figures in the darkness under the endless, star-filled sky.
Author’s Note
The Reality Behind The Apollo Murders
As I suggested at the outset of this novel, many of the characters, events and things in The Apollo Murders are real. Their inclusion made writing the book great fun, and a complex challenge. Here’s a quick summary, to save you googling.
Real Characters
Andropov, Yuri. Chairman of the KGB, went on to be General Secretary/ leader of the Soviet Union
Bean, Al. Apollo 12 and Skylab astronaut, painter
Carius, Bob. Captain of the USS New Orleans Chauvin, C.A. “Skip.” NASA Apollo Spacecraft Test Conductor at Kennedy Space Center Chelomei, Vladimir. Chief Designer and Director of spacecraft factory OKB-52 for the Proton rocket and Almaz Dobrynin, Anatoly. Soviet Ambassador to the US, 1962–86
Haldeman, Bob. White House Chief of Staff, 1969–73
Heard, Jack. Harris County Sheriff, 1973–1984
Kissinger, Henry. US National Security Advisor, 1969–75
Kraft, Chris. Manned Spacecraft Center Director, 1972-82
Kranz, Gene. Flight Director, NASA, 1962–94
Latypov, Gabdulkhai “Gabdul.” Soviet Air Forces Senior Lieutenant, Lunokhod driver Nixon, Richard. US President, 1969–74
Phillips, Sam. USAF General, Apollo Program Director, 1964–69, National Security Agency Director, 1972–73
Schlesinger, James. Central Intelligence Agency Director, 1973
Serdyukov, Vasily. Captain of the Soviet submarine K-252
Shepard, Al. USN Admiral, test pilot, first American astronaut
Slayton, Deke. NASA Director of Flight Crew Operations, astronaut Weisner, Maurice “Mo.” USN Admiral, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, 1972–73
Almaz Space Station The Soviet spy space station in the story was real, including the fact that it was armed with a Kartech R-23 machine gun. It launched, unmanned, on 3 April 1973, but was fatally damaged after two weeks by an explosion, and depressurized into a trail of debris before a crew could be launched to dock with it. Its orbit decayed until it burned up in the atmosphere on 28 May 1973. A subsequent Almaz station was also armed with the R-23 gun, which was fired once in a successful test.
Apollo 18 The US originally planned to launch Apollo 18 and 19, and built most of the hardware, including the rockets, for both missions. President Nixon canceled them both due to budgetary and other pressures after the near-disaster of Apollo 13.
Area 51 A secret center for stealth technology development and testing captured Soviet fighter aircraft in Nevada.
Female Cosmonauts The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, who flew solo on Vostok 6 for nearly three days in 1963. The next was Svetlana Savitskaya, a test pilot and 1970 world aerobatic champion. She flew in space twice in the early 1980s, including doing a spacewalk, and eventually retired from the Russian Air Force with the rank of major.
Lunokhod The Soviets landed several unmanned probes on the Moon. The Lunokhod rover in the story is real. It touched down in the Sea of Serenity on 15 January 1973, exploring and sending back extensive data. It accidentally brushed a crater wall on 9 May 1973, knocking moondust onto its radiator. It overheated and died two days later.
Manned Orbital Laboratory The US had a military spy space station program, and selected and trained test pilots for it, but it never flew, and was canceled in June 1969. Several of the MOL astronauts flew as part of the NASA astronaut corps. One of them would have been Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American astronaut, if he had not been killed in a USAF flying accident in 1967.
Polly Ranch A real suburban Houston community based around a private runway, with houses and hangars combined. Several astronauts have lived there.
Radioactivity on the Moon The geology of the Moon as we understand it makes anything beyond low-level radioactive rock highly unlikely. Mars, though, with its immense Olympus Mons volcano and water processes, could well have concentrated radioactivity; we have found nearly 300 Martian meteorites on Earth, so some have very likely landed on the Moon.
Russian Orthodox Church and Spying The KGB recruited translators inside the church in the 1970s in an attempt to entrap people of interest by maneuvering them into compromising situations.
Svetlana’s Pistol The Makarov Pistol was the Soviet Union’s standard military and police sidearm for decades, and it was carried in the survival kit of their space capsules. In 1986 cosmonauts were issued a specially designed triple-barreled pistol called the TP-82 instead, with two 40-gauge shot and one 5.45 mm bullet. That’s the weapon I trained with as a Soyuz pilot.