Posted on 01/20/2015 2:58:06 PM PST by NEWwoman
I remember John Glenn’s first orbital flight, Feb. 20, 1962. I was a student in IBM’s Customer Engineer School in Endicott, NY and it was snowing like crazy up there. Those were the days of the old 80 column punched cards.
I would think that someone who was likely to meet his creator on such a mission (considering the quality of Soviet engineering) would have an abiding faith in God and Christ. Because he would need that sort of divine providence to come out the other side alive, rather than as space junk.
Genna Sosonko “The World Champions I Knew.” New in Chess, 2013
Smyslov:
On religion: “He himself said that he had been a believer, albeit secretly, from a young age... He wore a cross on a gold chain, and during our walks, if there was an opportunity, he would go into a church, light a candle, and cross himself in front of the icons.” p.114
On Lenin: “He always avoided saying the name Lenin, even in the Soviet era. He would even say ‘When I was playing in the national championship in Petersburg in 1961’, using the pre-Soviet name of Leningrad. He called Lenin ‘the Antichrist’, whose embalmed corpse should have been taken out of Red Square a long time ago.” p.118
On Smyslov’s mild temperament: “I could literally count the number of times I saw him angry. I remember one case very well... I said that there had been an assassination attempt on the Pope in Rome... and they’d caught the shooter.”
Smyslov: “They caught him? That kind of villain should immediately be hanged in public in St. Peter’s Square, to teach others a lesson. And not just hanged, but by the balls...” p.116
American astronaut: "All you had to do was step outside your capsule, and you would have!"
I'm glad Admiral Shepard's hours and hours of holds and the coffee he eventually had to let loose in his suit didn't eventually become a tradition. Maybe that was because, as I recall the day of that incident, he didn't actually fly. They scrubbed, and waited for another day, though the secret of who, among the Original Seven would fly first was out of the bag.
Appreciated the post, by the way. Much thanks.
bump
Just think, when someday the aliens recover the capsule
and body of Laika, they will be amazed that dogs could
build technology like that without hands...
Too bad, I rather liked the Idea of a mummified dog in
orbit.
That rocket would have to be 3 maybe 4 times that large to hold a man.
Something I remember from “Zoolander”.
Thanks for the ping. I didn't know this.
So true! ;)
I remember those punch cards, Tucker39. They were good for index cards and print outs for scrap paper.
Amen, Ouderkirk.
Thanks for sharing, Richard. I learn so much on this site.
LOL!
Back at you, Prospero. :)
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