Posted on 02/10/2011 10:16:04 PM PST by george76
Apollo 14 -- the safely numbered one after that, um, other one -- splashed down 40 years ago today.
Since there were no dancing-on-the-edge death-defying dramatic escapes on this one, the mission is largely lost to history. It did get NASA back on track, of course, and paved the way for as many additional moon landings as the budget could afford (three).
But there were some oddities attached to Apollo 14. Here are six:
6. The astronauts got lost on the moon.
4. Astronaut Ed Mitchell became a raving UFO loon.
2. Shepard: Least-liked Apollo astronaut?
Shepard was a Machiavellian, cold, arrogant guy whose utter lack of people skills turned many off. Hard-partying Gordo Cooper ...
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.houstonpress.com ...
I’ve never read the book, but I love the movie version. Also, the late Deke Slayton wrote I think a couple of books, in one of which he states his reason for the impossibility of Grissom having manually blown that hatch.
I love that scene where some big hat characters blow Shepard off, “where’s Glenn?” and Shepard vows to his wife that he would walk on the Moon. :’)
He wrote the best book ever on the 60s counterculture, "The Electric Koolaid Acid Test," about Ken Kesey, etc. Another book, "The Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby," is a priceless and fabulous chronicle of the wonderful car culture of America. As a writer, he's hilarious, and has had me laughing out loud while reading many times. He's just witty and funny and cuts through liberal hypocrisy like no one else.
The neat thing about Tom Wolfe (whose "The Right Stuff" kind of put Chuck Yeager -- the legendary test pilot who broke the sound barrier -- on the map in that it let America know about this hitherto mostly unknown hero) is that although he looks and dresses like a New York City dandy and elitist (I believe he's a Virginian by birth), he absolutly recognizes, understands, and respects people who may not have much in the way of formal education (to put it mildly), culture or polish, but who are extraordinarily intelligent and American.
Tom Wolfe is one of the best chroniclers -- maybe THE best -- of mid to late 20th Century America. I love his work. It's so odd, that he looks and seems as if he would be a super-snob, but the reality is that he's the opposite.
I loved the movie "The Right Stuff" and watch it several times a year, but the book is a thousand times better. For me, the book motivated me to read both of Yeager's autobiographies (yes, he wrote two! "Yeager" and "Press On"), Gordon Cooper's autobio "Leap of Faith," and a few other books about space whose titles escape me. I also read Lovell's book on Apollo 13.
Two of my favorite quotes from Yeager:
"I've always said that the rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own."
And ...
"My legacy, I suppose, is speed. But looking back, I don't think many people save a lot of time by moving faster from one point to the next, because from the time you're born until the time you die, it's pretty cut and dried. You have to take advantage of time, not speed."
You should also add “Man In Full” as essential reading from the Tom Wolfe catalog. That is probably my favorite Wolfe book. I especially like the “workout session” that the in-over-his-head tycoon gets put through by the bank and the part where the hard-luck kid who loses his job in the frozen food plant tries to get a job as a typist in the city, ends up getting his car towed and gets harangued by his wife and mother-in-law when he calls them on his last dime looking for some money.
Thanks for the recommendation! I haven’t read that one — don’t know how I missed it! THANKS!
Did you spot Chuck Yeager’s cameo in the movie?
Yes, he was in DH's cousin Pancho's bar.
A book you might enjoy, about another major player from that era and especially beyond, is Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War.
Check out his Wiki entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategist%29
Yeager plays the bartender if I recall.
If you watch that scene again you’ll notice that the astronauts make a toast to someone, and when they raise their glasses it’s in the direction of Chuck Yeager. I’ve wondered if that was intentional, if those actors wanted to honor Yeager.
“in DH’s cousin Pancho’s bar.”
I saw a documentary recently “The Legend of Pancho Barnes”, it was really excellent, you should try to see it:
http://www.legendofpanchobarnes.com/film/index.php
Oh yeah. OT, his memoir is excellent.
MY HP 12C calculator had more computing capabilities than the computers on board those flights. Amazing
We own it since she is family :)
It’s a fascinating story. I never would have guessed that she was from a wealthy family. And being the granddaughter of Thaddeus Lowe was even more surprising.
Thanks for the fascinating recollections.
We have a few old family pics and a guest book with both of their signatures. Interesting family members, indeed.
In any case, Glen should have been brought up on treason charges
for helping to prevent a Senate committee from looking into
foreign campaign donations to Clinton and the DNC.
How do you think he got his shuttle ride? There were better
qualified people to run the "age" experiments than him. Clinton
paid him off with a return to space.
My original beef with him is that he should have been booted out of
Congress, along with McCain, for participating in the thrift
fraud back in the early 1980s.
According to Tom Wolfe’s book, there were “two” Alan Shepards.
The one that got things done and took no crap from anyone was the “Commander Shepard” persona. He was the cool, detached get-it-done-now-or-else kind of guy.
The other Shepard was “Smilin’ Al of the Cape”. He was the fun-to-be-with guy, the guy who would occasionally pop up and play practical jokes on the test crews and scientists.
In addition to the bar part; I thought he was also in the B29 scene?
Right Stuff is a great movie. It makes me very proud of this nation to see what we accomplished back then.
I think of how short of time span it was between breaking the sound barrier, and the Wright Brothers first flight.
Amazing!!
Also I watched Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart on NetFlix.
A very interesting movie that gave a lot of insight into the the rapid change after WWII.
Most missions have coded phrases you can use to indicate UO over open channels.
“There is a Santa Claus” was one used on one Apollo mission.
John Podesta did a forward to a book recently published called “UFO” that documented six cases. These six are from as unimpeachable sources and witnesses as you can find.
The issue within government right now isn’t that they exist. Understanding whether they are under intelligent control is where they are at today. The approach is of high skepticism and the unwillingness to make assumptions now.
There’s plenty of scientific evidence to indicate the existence of UAO’s. That’s where it stops, however. There isn’t enough evidence to conclude how they are powered, whether they are piloted or remote controlled, etc.
Most AF and Naval Academy cadets receive instruction on UAO’s and how to report them, for example.
I read at the time that the NASA rank and file were furious that Glenn got a spot on the shuttle. The overwhelming choice, for many reasons, was Chuck Yeager. He would have been perfect.
The government has known for 60 years. They're terrified at public reaction to the eventual revelation. Organized religion would certainly get a workout, in both directions.
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