"Mmmmm. Corned Be-e-e-e-f, argrrrrggghhrrrraaa... < /drool >"
I also found this genuine oddity while searching for a decent shot of Homer Simpson in space.
Posted on 12/07/2004 10:31:57 PM PST by weegee
The longest serving astronaut in history made his retirement plans official today.
John W. Young, who has spent 42 years at NASA, plans to leave the space agency on Dec. 31.
Young, who commanded the first shuttle mission and flew twice to the moon, was the first human to fly in space six times and the only astronaut to pilot four different spacecraft. He flew in the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs.
"John's tenacity and dedication are matched only by his humility," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "He's never sought fame and often goes out of his way to avoid the limelight."
O'Keefe said Young's legacy will inspire space explorers for years to come.
Young joined NASA in 1962. His first mission was in 1965 as a pilot of the first manned flight of the Gemini program. He went on to command the Gemni 10 in 1966, followed by his orbit of the moon in the Apollo Command Module in 1969.
Young went back to the moon in 1972. He and another astronaut collected more than 200 pounds of lunar samples.
"John has an incredible engineering mind, and he sets the gold standard when it comes to asking the really tough questions," said William Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space operations. "When he talks, everybody listens."
In 1981, Young commanded Columbia during the first space shuttle mission. His final space mission came in 1983, when he again commanded Columbia.
Young worked as chief of the agency's astronaut office for more than a dozen years and as an assistant and associate director of the Johnson Space Center for eight years.
"John Young has no equal in his service to our country and to humanity's quest for space," said Jefferson D. Howell Jr., director of the Johnson Space Center. "He is the astronaut's astronaut, a hero among heroes who fly in space. ...
"He will be missed."
HOUSTON PING
I remember very well when he and Robert Crippen piloted the first Space Shuttle. I decided on that day that there were no braver men alive!
Charles M. Duke, Jr. was the "other" astronaut. With so many "other" astronauts to walk on the moon, I can see where the "other" astronauts names can't be remembered.
I'm envious, have I committed a sin?
Plus the MF actually got to bounce around on the Moon!
Here's some quotes I found:
**********************************************************
When asked what he considers to be his greatest achievement....
"I have no idea...but my smartest achievement was when Susy and I got married."
- John Young, 7-4-00
**********************************************************
"I think my favorite photo in my home is the picture of my two little grandchildren."
- John Young, 3-7-00
AND!
Who will ever forget the Corned Beef Sandwich he smuggled onto Gemeni III when he rode with Gus Grissom...
"Mmmmm. Corned Be-e-e-e-f, argrrrrggghhrrrraaa... < /drool >"
I also found this genuine oddity while searching for a decent shot of Homer Simpson in space.
I'd kill to see those cartoon drawings of his colleagues the bio site says he is notorious for...
bump
BTTT
My heroes have always been astronauts.
I've met a number of them (from Alan Shepherd to Charlie Duke to Neil Armstrong and others including possibly one of the Columbia astronauts at a NASA open house). I've seen a lengthy documentary on Story Musgrave...
The only astronaut I have no desire to meet is John Glenn.
Maybe he realized that NASA no longer has anykind of real future.
Same here!
LOL! So very typical. Gotta protect them bragging rights.
God Bless ya and thank you, John Young
Having been a NASA-brat, and finally getting a chance to actually work there has been a real motivation in my life...
My Dad had worked there from the get go, and later moved into a position to do some of the most interesting work there right along side most of the folks who were the "pointy end of the sword" so to speak...
A testament to my Dads program sits up on stilts at the entrance to Ellington Field these days...John Young and others had had a lot of time with that program as well...
I have had the honor of meeting and working with John Young on many occasions on site at JSC...And sure, this guy has done a ton of stuff for that agency and this country, but you'd never hear him just brag about those things...
He's a real family guy and is proud of them as well...
One time he turned to me during a break in a meeting once, and asked me how my Dad was enjoying his retirement...I told him he seems to be enjoying it...He kinda look puzzled, and said, it must be tough somedays, but I bet a bad round of golf cures that??? We chuckled about that truth...
He also said he had more fun flying with my Dad than a lot of folks he himself had in the past...
Though my Dads involvement at NASA, I've met a ton of astronauts...All of them are top notch people, some are truly remarkable experts in a variety of disciplines...Some are a bit quirky, but thats what makes them special...
And the people behind the scenes that support them...Well lets just say that they (astronaut corp) know who really gets a lot of it done...
I wish him well obviously...I figure he's going to hit the speaking tour for a short while, which I would recommend anyone who is interested in the inside story to go see...Who knows whats next, but I am sure he'll have a plan, and execute it flawlessly...
I'm sorry you met Story...hehehe
I see this sort of thing quite a bit, and it generally perplexes. When multi-millionaires and rock stars line up to buy a $20M ticket into orbit and space...when tourism now seems to be the only viable economic return on all this exploration...when thousands of poorer folks would line up for the privilege, but couldn't afford it...Wither "courage"--how is it so very brave?
It's a sad thing to watch the greying and stooping astronauts shambling anxiously behind Rutan, who practically bursts out of his flight jacket with sheer self-adoration...the old guys just want a whiff of that old Mission Perfume. Then Rutan gets up behind a podium and brags about how he's going to make "Sex in Space" tourism possible. Tom Wolfe should write a follow-up--Chuck Yeager becomes Sherman McCoy.
Makes me wonder what it was all about, Alfie.
>>...Wither "courage"--how is it so very brave?
They were the first humans to fly in a rocket that had never been test launched. All of the previous times that humans had ridden a rocket to space, that rocket had been flown without humans onboard in test launches. The Shuttle was completely unconventional, and in my mind it took a brave man to go on that first launch. It had not been proven in launch nor reentry. And in fact when I saw the on-orbit photographs of tiles missing from the OHMS pods I thought there was a good chance that Young and Crippen were dead men upon reentry.
It might surprise many to have seen that it was the time after the Mission that required more courage from the astronaut than the Mission itself.
Can you elaborate?
Not only was the shuttle first flown with men aboard, it was the first time solid rockets had been man-rated. Solid rockets are much more dangerous than liquid rockets because you can't turn them off once they light.
I never thought about Young being the only astronaut to pilot four spacecraft (Gemini, Apollo CM, LEM, Shuttle).
A co-worker of mine was an Astronaut semi-finalist (or was it finalist? -- as far as you get without being an astronaut). Anyway, John Young was one of his interviewers. My co-worker said it was all he could do to talk coherently and not babble "You walked on the Moon, man," and things like that. From all accounts a great guy.
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