i just had too much fearlessness in me to let that be any kind of deterrent. reporter: roy tharpe sat next to joann in the firing room. we were all men. joann was there. she was a looker. you could never pull anything over on her because she would take and cut you to pieces because, technically, she was extremely competent. reporter: were there some men, though, who didn t want her in there? right. but no doubt about it, she had the moxie of what it took to be in a position of being the only woman in the firing room for apollo 11. we have main engine start. four, three, two, one, zero, lift-off. i got to feel the launch, the vibration of the lift-off once the shock wave hit the building,