I occasionally wax nostalgic about NASA and the space-race, for a variety of reasons. In large part, despite their personal foibles and flaws, so many of the astronauts risked life and health pursuing increasingly daring goals to develop a sustainable space-exploration agency. For that, they have my eternal gratitude and admiration.
As a child of the 70s and teenager in the 80s, NASA's space program left an indelible impression upon me. From the silly, such as Tang commercials that repeatedly reminded us that astronauts drank Tang in outer space, to entertainment (esp. the low-budget tv shows, such as Space: 1999, The Starlost, Ark II, and Space Academy, obviously influenced by films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and the series Star Trek), to the informational like the Saturday show "The Big Blue Marble", the reminders of the their space exploits were meant to inspire the next generations; and indeed, it did, even in non-obvious ways.
One of these men, John Young, perhaps the most prolific explorer of our time, a man that served on six space missions, was the Chief of the Astronaut Office, all of which followed a distinguished military career as a combat aviator and test pilot, died last night at the age of 87. http://www.chron.com/news/article/Astronaut-John-Young-has-died-at-age-87-12478546.php
There are astronauts that enjoy significant public stature: John Glenn, Gus Grissom, and Alan Sheppard of the original (Mercury) 7 group; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin for the Apollo 11 moonlanding; Jim Lovell (and to slightly lesser degrees, Fred Haise and Jack Swiggert) for the Apollo 13 "failed" mission; the Challenger crew in death. Mainly because of his unassuming nature, John Young's professional exploits are under-celebrated.
Young is the only astronaut to have traveled into space six times, including two Gemini missions (3 & 10), two Apollo missions (10 & 16), and two Space Shuttle (STS) missions (STS-1 and STS-9). Young is the only astronaut to pilot four different classes of space vehicle: Gemini capsule; Apollo command module; Apollo lunar lander; and the Space Shuttle winged-glider. Young is the only astronaut to fly to the moon twice: first on Apollo 10 as the command module pilot that was the dress rehearsal for Armstrong, Aldrin, and Mike Collins' trip (Apollo 11); and then as commander on Apollo 16 (and lunar module/lander pilot alongside Charlie Duke).
Unfortunately, the "routine" nature of the Space Shuttle missions (at least up to Challenger) has resulted in Young's command of the first STS mission (alongside Robert Crippen) being buried in history. In April 1981, after nearly 8 years of delays, the Space Shuttle Columbia was finally space-ready, and John Young was tapped to command that first mission. The historic mission received a lot of publicity at the time, and both the launch and landing were covered live by all the networks. I remember being on spring break and seeing the landing live. And, imo, the shuttle-line never had a prettier or smoother landing that Young and Crippen's touchdown, esp. as it was nosed down at the tail-end of this video:
RIP, Astronaut John Young. I hope your accomplishments and service are long-remembered and celebrated as they deserve.
As a child of the 70s and teenager in the 80s, NASA's space program left an indelible impression upon me. From the silly, such as Tang commercials that repeatedly reminded us that astronauts drank Tang in outer space, to entertainment (esp. the low-budget tv shows, such as Space: 1999, The Starlost, Ark II, and Space Academy, obviously influenced by films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and the series Star Trek), to the informational like the Saturday show "The Big Blue Marble", the reminders of the their space exploits were meant to inspire the next generations; and indeed, it did, even in non-obvious ways.
One of these men, John Young, perhaps the most prolific explorer of our time, a man that served on six space missions, was the Chief of the Astronaut Office, all of which followed a distinguished military career as a combat aviator and test pilot, died last night at the age of 87. http://www.chron.com/news/article/Astronaut-John-Young-has-died-at-age-87-12478546.php
There are astronauts that enjoy significant public stature: John Glenn, Gus Grissom, and Alan Sheppard of the original (Mercury) 7 group; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin for the Apollo 11 moonlanding; Jim Lovell (and to slightly lesser degrees, Fred Haise and Jack Swiggert) for the Apollo 13 "failed" mission; the Challenger crew in death. Mainly because of his unassuming nature, John Young's professional exploits are under-celebrated.
Young is the only astronaut to have traveled into space six times, including two Gemini missions (3 & 10), two Apollo missions (10 & 16), and two Space Shuttle (STS) missions (STS-1 and STS-9). Young is the only astronaut to pilot four different classes of space vehicle: Gemini capsule; Apollo command module; Apollo lunar lander; and the Space Shuttle winged-glider. Young is the only astronaut to fly to the moon twice: first on Apollo 10 as the command module pilot that was the dress rehearsal for Armstrong, Aldrin, and Mike Collins' trip (Apollo 11); and then as commander on Apollo 16 (and lunar module/lander pilot alongside Charlie Duke).
Unfortunately, the "routine" nature of the Space Shuttle missions (at least up to Challenger) has resulted in Young's command of the first STS mission (alongside Robert Crippen) being buried in history. In April 1981, after nearly 8 years of delays, the Space Shuttle Columbia was finally space-ready, and John Young was tapped to command that first mission. The historic mission received a lot of publicity at the time, and both the launch and landing were covered live by all the networks. I remember being on spring break and seeing the landing live. And, imo, the shuttle-line never had a prettier or smoother landing that Young and Crippen's touchdown, esp. as it was nosed down at the tail-end of this video:
RIP, Astronaut John Young. I hope your accomplishments and service are long-remembered and celebrated as they deserve.
