them-- quite literally. but what of their wives and families back on snert we'll be sitting down with a few of the astronaut wives to find out in our "sunday morning" cover story. >> liftoff at 2:13. >> gather a group of women whose astronauts husbands were aiming for the moon and you'll get a dose of down-to-earth reality. >> all the risk your husbands were facing, did you ask your husband to quit? to stop doing it? >> i never did. >> if i had asked charlie to quit flying, he would have said see you later. a certain standup dad is in his element this sunday and with anthony mason, we sit down and take a listen. >> reporter: father hood has provided a wealth of material for comic give gaffigan. >> you know when you're a kid and you go on vacation you go "why why is dad always in a bad mood?" >> reporter: because he and his wife have five in a two-bedroom apartment. why are you doing this to yourself? >> i'm not trying to prove something. >> reporter: we talk about father hood with jim gaffigan ahead on "sunday morning.". >> debbie reynolds is classic hollywood but her on life story seems to be forever entwined with the stories of two other big stars. this morning she talks about them and more with mo rocca. ♪ tammy, tammy ♪ tammy's in love. >> reporter: on screen, debbie reynolds was the good girl you root for. off screen she was the good girl who got wronged. you must get tired of talking about eddie fisher and elizabeth taylor. >> no, i don't get tired of it because i'd like to clear it up for everybody. >> reporter: she does just that ahead on is up "sunday morning" there >> there's the music our greatest pop stars make, then there's the music behind the music. backup singers are often overlooked, but now by the ears of our own ben tracy. >> reporter: their voices have made songs iconic. but these singers are largely unknown. when you're singing background for somebody, what is your job? >> my job is to make them look incredible. and sound incredible. because i'm going to be on my thing. >> reporter: background singers take center stage later on sunday sunday. >> cowan: serena altschul takes a close look at the close shave. bill geist takes a big bite out of a big steak. nancy jiles looks for just the right fit and more. but first, here are the headlines for this father's day, the 16th of june, 2013. north korea has proposed high-level talks with the united states to ease tensions on the korean peninsula. it's a rare move that follows months of acrimony. earlier this year, north korea threatened nuclear missile strikes against both south korea and the u.s. in colorado, firefighters outside colorado springs say they've finally gotten the upper hand on the most destructive wildfire in the state's history. the black forest fire started burning five days ago and has destroyed nearly 500 homes and claimed two lives. its cause is still unknown. in iran, modern candidate hussein rowhani was declared the president. he received more than 50% of the vote, defeating two ultraconservative candidates. he succeed iran's controversial president mahmoud ahmadinejad. egypt's islamic government announced yesterday that it is cutting off diplomatic relations with syria. a growing number of hard-line sunni clerics in egypt calling for a holy war against syria's embattled regime. it's going to be a bit tougher to keep up with the kardashians because now there's one more. celebrity outlets are reporting that reality t.v. star kim kardashian and grammy rapper kanye west are the parents of a baby girl born yesterday. both mother and child are said to be doing fine. so's dad. in sports, golfer phil mickelson is hoping for a pretty nice father's day present. at the moment, he holds a one-stroke lead going into the final round of the u.s. open. today also happens to be his 43rd birthday. happy birthday to him. last night in game two of hockey's stanley cup finals, boston's daniel paille hit a big one in overtime to give the bruins a 2-1 victory over the chicago black hawks. the best of seven series is now at a game apiece. now for the father's day forecast. warm weather is expected across the country but there are some strong storms that could pop up in the plains and elsewhere. the last day of spring looks to be even warmer and possibly just as rainy. >> you had to have your makeup on and you couldn't get drunk at a party. >> cowan: next, a down-to-earth chat with the the wives of the astronauts. and later -- ♪ good morning, good morning -- ♪,,,,,,,,,,,, >> cowan: it's pretty hard for anyone to compete with going to the moon-- but the astronauts weren't the only ones on that journey. their wives back on earth were along for the ride, too, just a different kind of voyage. now the wives of the astronauts are finally getting their due, as we're about to show you in our "sunday morning" cover story. >> liftoff! we have liftoff! 32 minutes past the hour. >> cowan: it ranks among our greatest human endeavors-- going to the moon. it's a staggering feat of engineering. >> tranquility base here. the eagle has landed. >> cowan: but one that carried with it astronomical risks. >> we have a bunch of guys about to turn blue. >> godspeed john glenn. >> cowan: the men of nasa's mercury, gemini and apollo programs were national heroes, but they were husbands and fathers, too. and the wives who stayed behind while their other halfs explored other worlds were part of a sisterhood with an orbit all its own. >> i think the girls all shared something that no other group of women shared in history. i have a scrapbook for each flight. >> cowan: marilyn lovett was in the headlines along with her husband astronaut jim lovell. in 1968 he was a command module pilot on "apollo" 8. >> it makes you realize just what you have back there on earth. >> cowan: but "apollo" 8 isn't why they make movies about jim lovell. >> houston, we have a problem. >> cowan: his heroism later depicted by tom hanks helped avoid disaster on "apollo" 13. >> you looking out and you can see it. >> cowan: it was no movie for marilyn lovell. >> let's everybody keep cool. >> cowan: for four days in april of 1970 every agonizing moment of her husband's dire situation was ployplaying out not only in marilyn's living room but across the country. >> the only goal of "apollo" 13, to get the men home safely. >> cowan: nasa expected her and all the wives to be as calm and brave as the astronauts themselves. >> throughout the day, a steady stream of friends to the homes of astronauts lovell and hayes. >> as the years went on i thought what would i have done if i had become a widow? i mean, what would i have done? >> cowan: did you talk about it as cup? >> i think it was unspoken. >> it was. this is the business i was in and she became my wife and she understood the business i was in and that was it. >> cowan: from his earliest days as an astronaut, his career came first. even when marilyn found herself pregnant, she hid it from the him for four months fearing it might ruin his chances of going to the moon. >> and i went four, five, six, seven -- you're going to be having the baby when i'm in space! "don't say anything!" >> cowan: if it all sounds like the astronaut version of "mad men" well, it was says this author. >> they weren't being flung into space but they were dealing with the stress of having their husband ride this giant rocket where no man had ever gone before and also sort of projecting the perfect american family image. >> cowan: she's compile misdemeanor of their very real wives tales into a new book. >> each woman i think dealt with the mission of having a husband in space on her own terms. >> genie and charlie basset bought the house one house down from us. >> cowan: wives like sue bee, once married to "apollo" astronaut alan bee used to live close to one another. >> buzz and joan lives behind us. there was a gate that i could walk through and come back in -- and go and have tea in the as noon with her. cow now the late 1960s this neighborhood outside houston was kind of a space suburbia. >> my children loved it and their friends were here. >> cowan: the husbands were rarely home and when they were many of the wives knew they were competing with the moon for attention. >> i became pretty independent living by myself with the children because the fellas didn't have time to do the checkbook. they didn't have time to do the yard very often. >> cowan: none of them did, right? >> there was too much training. >> cowan: so in that sense you were all in the same -- >> yeah, we were fall the same boat. >> cowan: we gathered sue and three other astro wives together. >> you couldn't go outside in your bathrobe, you had to be dress and you had to have your makeup on. >> you couldn't get drunk at a party. (laughter) >> cowan: genie basset robinson had proudly been astronaut charlie basset's wife. jane dreifuss was once married to pete conrad, the third man on the moon. and barbara butler is the former wife of gene cernan, the last man on the moon. how much of a pressure was there to be perfect american family? >> well, i think we knew we had to be because we didn't want to have anything upset our husband's flights. we all wanted our husbands to be the first-- or at least we wanted them to be sure and be up there at the top of the list. >> cowan: and a good happy marriage sort of ensured where you were? >> it would certainly help. >> cowan: wasn't that hard? you're watching your ps and qs? >> well, we're perfect! (laughter) >> cowan: they can laugh about it now but the stress of knowing-- and sometimes not knowing-- the danger their husbands were in took a toll each and every day. one of the wives said they tried not to have arguments because -- >> yes! true! because you wouldn't want to have them go off and be killed and you left on that note of being in an arguements. you never would argue. >> cowan: that was consciously -- >> always in the back of my mind. >> cowan: how would you deal with that? >> you just put it way back in the file cabinet and then when it happens it's -- you face it. you have to cope with it. >> cowan: genie learned to cope early. her husband charlie basset was training for "gemini 9" when he died in a plane crash along with a fellow astronaut elliot see. the first people at her house that day weren't from nasa, they were other wives. >> america's first three "apollo" astronauts were trapped and killed --. >> cowan: in 1967 they raised to each other's side after the "apollo" 1 tragedy when three astronauts lost their lives in a fire. what comfort did you have? what did you say? >> you don't say anything. >> you don't know what to say. >> your presence means so much to them. we were really close. if. >> cowan: while the wifes have remained close to this day, most of their marriages fell apart. >> we were just young and inexperienced and not ready for all of it. >> cowan: in fact, only a handful of astronaut marriages lasted. jim and marilyn lovell are one of the lucky ones. the they just celebrated their 61st anniversary this month. the moon may have gone to his head, but into his heart, too. >> i was right there on the coast of the sea of tranquility right there. >> cowan: he actually named part of the moon after marilyn. >> i thought that would be a good mountain to name after my wife. >> cowan: then there was a christmas present he sent to her doorstep while he was still in space. >> of course, i opened it and it was a mink jacket. with a little card for there saying "merry christmas from man on the moon." >> cowan: no guy is ever going to be able to top that, you realize that. >> i thought that was pretty classy. it took me some time to think about it. >> and we have liftoff at 2:13. >> cowan: among all those mid-century images of dutiful wives watching their husbands rocket to glory, the wives of "apollo" 12 perhaps sum it up best. despite all the trials and all the hardships that the wives endured, being a part of the space race still leaves them feeling proud, thrilled, and happy. >> i want you to tell me which cola you prefer. >> cowan: coming up, the cola that took on coke. i told him, sure. can't hurt, right? and now today, i see this in the news. once again, centrum silver was chosen by researchers for another landmark study. this time looking at eye health. my doctor! he knows his stuff. [ male announcer ] centrum. the most studied. the most recommended. and the most preferred multivitamin brand. the choice is clear. creating gimmicky words like "hyper-softacular" to tell you our new extra soft just got softer. instead we give you things you can really use -- like a free roll of our new extra soft when you join scott shared values. sign up at scottbrand.com. oooh... it's not for colds. it's not for pain. it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing™. ♪ zzzquil™. the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil®. ♪ be socialable, look smart -- >> cowan: now a page from our "sunday morning" almanac, june 16, 1903. 110 years ago today, a day bursting with pep. that was the day a new bern, north carolina druggist named caleb davis was granted a trademark to the soft drink he'd invented a few years earlier, pepsi-cola. known originally as brad's drink pepsi-cola combined pepsin and other nuts. and it's battled to catch up with arch competitor coca-cola. pep son one-upped its rival by selling a bottle twice as big as coke's for exactly same price during the great depression. one nickel. ♪ just a nickel -- >> cowan: the selling point that it n an advertising jingle. ♪ twice as nice, pepsi-cola is good for you ♪ >> cowan: in 1959, pepsi played a role in world diplomacy when vice president richard nixon and soviet premier nikita kruschev conspicuously consumed it during their so-called kitchen debate at a u.s. cultural exhibition in moscow. ♪ pepsi generation -- >> cowan: in the years that followed pepsi sought to rebrand younger americans as the pepsi generation. other ads feature the so-called pepsi damage in which participants in a blin taste test taste pepsi over coke. >> which do you like better. >> i would say this one. >> cowan: to ads are widely believed to have helped spur coca-cola's launch of new coke back in 1985. a flavor reformulation that famously backfired. celebrity endorsements from music and sports stars didn't hurt pepsi's cause, either. ♪ you got the right one, baby -- ♪ >> cowan: nor did strategic product placement from the movie "back to the future into 2er." >> all sipt a pepsi. >> cowan: though coke still maintain its traditional sales lead over pepsi, in a hard fought battle like this one, neither cola can afford complacency. ahead looking sharp. [ female announcer ] love. it's the most powerful thing on the planet. love holds us in the beginning. comforts us as we grow old. love is the reason you care. for all the things in your life... that make life worth living. ♪ ♪ sweet love of mine >> cowan: once upon a time, long before disposable razors, a man in need of a close shave would look for a shop with a barber pole out front. now, as serena altschul tells us more and more men are looking to lose their 5:00 shadow these days online. >> i'm mike founder of dollar shave club. the. >> reporter: if you surf the web you may know this man's face. do people recognize you? >> it's happened. >> reporter: you're that guy! >> i've just started denying it, though. >> reporter: no, it's not me. >> people tell me "do you know you look like the guy from dollar shave club?" and i say yeah, (bleep) that guy he's ruined my life. >> reporter: michael dubin got his brush with final with a viral video when he launched dollar shave club from his apartment in santa monica, california. >> what is dollar shave sdplub for a dollar a month we send high quality razors right to your door. if you think your razor needs a vibrating handle, flashlight, ten blades? your grandfather had one blade and polio. on march, 2006, we launched the video and we didn't have expectations for it. we were just excited to get it out there. we launched it at 7:00 a.m. and by 7:15 our site had crashed from so much traffic. >> reporter: just 12 hours later. >> no, no, 15 minutes later. yeah. >> reporter: in 48 hours dubin had 12,000 orders. is that a big number? >> that's a big number for a company that has one employee, yes. >> reporter: now, a year later, where are you? >> we have 25 employees and we have over 200,000 members. >> reporter: so what is that kind of growth trajectory? >> well, i'm not the math guy but it's a 200,000% increase. >> reporter: dubin attributes dollar shave club's success toe the fact that perhaps the only thing that guys like less than shaving is shopping for razor blades. >> one is the price, two is the awful experience of going to the store to buy them. you have to find the razor fortress in the store, find guy with the key, he's always busy textinging his girlfriend. i remember when i was living in new york city i would walk right by the drugstore on the way home even when i needed stuff, razors shaving cream, whatever, i didn't want to go into the store to buy them. >> reporter: then again, if you had to go to the new york city shaving company you might not mind staying for a while from the company's two new york on the or y'all parlors, owner john scala offers luxurious badger hair brushes and straight razors that cost over a hundred dollars. as well as a deluxe shave experience. your average man doesn't have an experience like this on a regular basis. >> but they should. >> reporter: an experience that this schral customer savors. >> here's's a throwback to a bygone era. >> reporter: scala believes using a straight razor can actually offer a better shave. >> we think a straight razor is better for your skin, it gives you more control. it can gradually reduce the beard allowing you to do multiple passes if you want to compared to cartridge with where the ray the position is blades-- two, three, or five-- for most guys that's too close of a shave. >> reporter: author and grooming expert nick burns agrees. >> when you have five blades it kind of pulls the hair out of the skin and cuts it and then the hair comes back underneath the skin. that's why people get ingrown hairs. with a straight razor shave you don't get that same kind of wrefkt the hair is lifted out of the skin. so it might not be as cleese of a shave but it's more comfortable. >> the first triple blade shaving system, mavp 3. three blades specially positioned to shave closer in one effortless stroke. >> reporter: still, companies have kept piling on the blades as parodied on the sketch comedy show "mad t.v." >> the mavp 20. be 20 blades we guarantee you the closest shave of your life. the seventh blade cuts away six more layers of skin ensuring that hair will never, ever grow there. >> reporter: according to to burn it is ritual of shaving likely dates back through ancient egypt. through the ages, the act was often associated with the upper class who could afford to keep clean shaven. that all changed in 1904 with the invention of the safety razor. >> it wasn't until gillette came out with the double edged safety blade and made it affordble that it became more widespread. before that point it was very expensive to buy your blades because they were so forged. ♪ look sharp, feel sharp be because they were so forged. ♪ look sharp, feel sharp be sharp and listen mr. ♪ how are you fixed for blades >> reporter: today the art of shaving-- not the mention to luxury of shaving-- is alive and well. just ask michael dubin. >> as a kid you look up to your dad performing that ritual and he's got all kinds of interesting lotions and potions and you keep looking at your face in the mirror wondering when you're going to get the chance to do that and it takes 11, 12, 13 years before you finally grow facial hair and do this thing you've been wat