Posted on 12/08/2004 8:22:10 AM PST by af_vet_rr
CAPE CANAVERAL -- John Young, who walked on the moon and later commanded the first space shuttle mission, is retiring from NASA this month at 74 years old.
The Orlando native first flew to space in 1965 on a Gemini mission with the late Gus Grissom. In 1972, he walked on the moon in the next-to-last Apollo flight. Almost a decade later, Young and pilot Bob Crippen took Columbia on its maiden voyage.
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington plans a special celebration in Young's honor on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
ping
I saw the man at JSC one afternoon, and he's one of those people that has an authentically electric appeal. He is one of the astronauts that truly demands the respect he has so richly deserved, and it is a little sad to see him go.
He's very well known in FL, although I don't think the citrus growers ever quite forgave him for his open-mike stunt on Apollo 16.
As in: "I've got the ______ again. I gottem' again Charlie." (?)
Hand Salute.............two
Gee, I remember when the shuttle was just a paper display in a corner at Johnson Space Center.
An astronaut that has done everything but crew a space station flight. Four earth-orbiting (Gemini 3&10, STS-1 & STS_9), one lunar orbiting (Apollo 10), and one lunar landing (Apollo 16). He would have been commander for the Hubble Space Telescope launch mission. That was scrapped due to the Challenger disaster. He was walking on the moon when he and Charlie Duke got the word that the Space Shuttle funding was approved. He would later go on to command the first-ever flight of the shuttle. What a remarkable person, pilot, & astronaut. IIRC, he was still on active flight status as of his retirement. He was asked if he would fly again, and he said his wife would kill him if he even considered accepting a flight assignment. The last of the second astronaut group to retire. I wish him well.
I remember thinking he was the grand old man when I saw pictures of him on the Columbia flight deck with the "grandpa glasses" reading his checklists.
Young was from the "New 9" set of astronauts, selected right after the Mercury Seven.
We miss men the likes of Gordo, Pete Conrad, Alan Shepard, Deke, Jack Swigert. Those other pioneers will be joining them one by one of the next decade or two.
I grew up when space exploration was a big deal and the astronauts were household names; now hardly anyone - including myself - can name any of the current astronauts.
I met and spoke with Deke Slayton in college, oh, sixteen (!) years ago, and he wasn't as "electric" as the guys you mentioned, but he was a gruff, natural leader with no illusions of bullsh*t. Too bad the big "C" got him...
it's to bad because none of their like will pass this way again. I knew all their names and had all the models. and launched quite a few in my youth.
"It's to bad because none of their like will pass this way again."
Oh ye of little faith... There are still heroes to come, and some will be rocketmen... ;)
And NASA got their money's worth out of that trip - one of my best buddies in grad school went on to join him in the Astronaut Corps and flew four Shuttle missions.
Ramblin' Wreck BUMP.
Oh I know, it's to bad that the kids of today don't know anything of that time and all the excitement. I hope we will see that know of hero again.
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