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RIP Alan Bean

longview

longview

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These men are heroes, in the finest sense. They surely are mine!

When one looks at that relatively tiny capsule, the state of technology at the time, the unknown, and the nature of their mission in that there was no hope for help or return once on their way if a problem developed, we are left with only one conclusion:

Those guys had some real gonads!
 
Chomsky said:
These men are heroes, in the finest sense. They surely are mine!

When one looks at that relatively tiny capsule, the state of technology at the time, the unknown, and the nature of their mission in that there was no hope for help or return once on their way if a problem developed, we are left with only one conclusion:

Those guys had some real gonads!
Click to expand...

you have to be wired differently to do what those men did. sort of like the Indy Drivers or those who climb mountains without safety gear or ropes.
 
longview said:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/...-passing-of-apollo-skylab-astronaut-alan-bean
We have lost another of our moon walkers.
Alan Bean was the 4th man on the moon, and a Skylab commander.
Being a true Renaissance Man he did not stop at Science and exploration,
but tried to render the indescribable beauty he saw in space in his art,
to allow all of us to see the sights only a few others have.
Click to expand...

Good man. Brave man. Smart man. Thank you for leading the world into a new place and for always looking into the beyond. Sleep in peace.
 
TurtleDude said:
you have to be wired differently to do what those men did. sort of like the Indy Drivers or those who climb mountains without safety gear or ropes.
Click to expand...
They make submariners look like lightweights!

And you don't fully realize what claustrophobia can be, until you see one of those capsules in person, and think about being in it for weeks at a time ...
 
Chomsky said:
They make submariners look like lightweights!

And you don't fully realize what claustrophobia can be, until you see one of those capsules in person ...
Click to expand...

I have had 8 MRIs. the first one 30 years ago in what resembled a torpedo tube. Yeah you have to be wired differently.
 
TurtleDude said:
I have had 8 MRIs. the first one 30 years ago in what resembled a torpedo tube. Yeah you have to be wired differently.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

But I'm not being hyperbolic when I claim these guys were my/our heroes. Those of us of the "TV" generation, were also very much of the "science" generation. I watched these things live on TV as a young boy, and was enthralled by watching mankind advance it's knowledge of the unknown through these fine men, and the shear competence of their supporting organization. Enough so, that later in life as an adult I pursued a degree and career in technology.

My childhood memories were not the main driver of my early career decision, but they did play a role in shaping my propensity to embrace it. I suspect many still extant can remember well where they were, and what they were doing, as Neil Armstrong stepped off the final rung of the ladder and the world stopped to watch!

From that era, perhaps the only other events to freeze are attention to that degree might be the deaths of JFK/RFK/MLK, and perhaps to a lessor extent the Beatles appearing on Sullivan. But nothing gave us the positive awe inspiration quotient of that evening in '69. I think I might be able to stand by that.
 
I had only met Alan a few times, but he was a very nice guy.
The last time I saw him, I asked if he could take a picture with my Grandson,
He said " Of Course"!
 
Alan Bean was one of my favorite astronauts. It's sad to think that our moonwalkers are now dying to old age with no one to follow in their footsteps.
 
longview said:
I had only met Alan a few times, but he was a very nice guy.
The last time I saw him, I asked if he could take a picture with my Grandson,
He said " Of Course"!
Click to expand...

That's nice, and something for you and your grandson to cherish. I like celebrities who are like that.
 
I was recently speaking with a friend who, because she's associated with our local aviation and space museum, has met all of the Apollo and Gemini astronauts, and many Apollo, shuttle and ISS ones. She singled out both Alan Bean and Scott Carpenter as being sweethearts.

Blue skies and tailwinds Captain Bean.
 
longview said:
I had only met Alan a few times, but he was a very nice guy.
The last time I saw him, I asked if he could take a picture with my Grandson,
He said " Of Course"!
Click to expand...

I met Neil Armstrong a couple times since he was living in the Cincinnati area for awhile-his home town was a couple hours away. One of Buzz Aldrin's two sisters lived in a house across the street from where I lived from age 2-12 and his niece I used to play touch football and other games with with the other neighborhood kids. I only recall meeting Aldrin once and I believe it was before the moon walk.
 
longview said:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/...-passing-of-apollo-skylab-astronaut-alan-bean
We have lost another of our moon walkers.
Alan Bean was the 4th man on the moon, and a Skylab commander.
Being a true Renaissance Man he did not stop at Science and exploration,
but tried to render the indescribable beauty he saw in space in his art,
to allow all of us to see the sights only a few others have.
Click to expand...

We are getting older, and now, there are only 4 moon walkers left. RIP Alan Bean.
 
TurtleDude said:
I met Neil Armstrong a couple times since he was living in the Cincinnati area for awhile-his home town was a couple hours away. One of Buzz Aldrin's two sisters lived in a house across the street from where I lived from age 2-12 and his niece I used to play touch football and other games with with the other neighborhood kids. I only recall meeting Aldrin once and I believe it was before the moon walk.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who is an "astronaut junkie," and tried to meet as many as she could. She said that she'd not met anyone more friendly or approachable than Neil Armstrong.
 
longview said:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/...-passing-of-apollo-skylab-astronaut-alan-bean
We have lost another of our moon walkers.
Alan Bean was the 4th man on the moon, and a Skylab commander.
Being a true Renaissance Man he did not stop at Science and exploration,
but tried to render the indescribable beauty he saw in space in his art,
to allow all of us to see the sights only a few others have.
Click to expand...

He was a good man, a hell of an astronaut. When the Saturn V got struck by lightning, the whole panel went dead. His intense knowledge of the system kicked in, and he instantly knew which circuit breaker to pull to save the flight. And he did 2 months on Skylab 2.

Another hero gone....
 
Superfly said:
I have a friend who is an "astronaut junkie," and tried to meet as many as she could. She said that she'd not met anyone more friendly or approachable than Neil Armstrong.
Click to expand...

that is consistent with what I heard. His final years were spent in an area of cincinnati called Indian Hill and many of my friends live and where my wife grew up. SO many people I know knew him and that is what they said
 
TurtleDude said:
you have to be wired differently to do what those men did. sort of like the Indy Drivers or those who climb mountains without safety gear or ropes.
Click to expand...

Very, very few people actually do what's know as "solo free climbing" (it's usually not mountains, per se, but big walls), but in that context, Alex Honnold would be Mister Maximum Utmost Of All Time in the "Testicular Fortitude" category.

Must have taken a completely different relationship between the astronauts and engineers back then to have done what they did, together with balls the the size of blimp hangers.
 
Superfly said:
I have a friend who is an "astronaut junkie," and tried to meet as many as she could. She said that she'd not met anyone more friendly or approachable than Neil Armstrong.
Click to expand...

I bought a NASA box lot at an auction, and there was a pamphlet in it that was an 'annviersery' tribute to Apollo 13, and it was autographed by Michael Collens, Buzz Alrdin and Neil Armstrong. The girl I took care of did a school project at Nasa when she was going to college, and manged to get photos of her and a couple of astronaughts.
 
TurtleDude said:
that is consistent with what I heard. His final years were spent in an area of cincinnati called Indian Hill and many of my friends live and where my wife grew up. SO many people I know knew him and that is what they said
Click to expand...

My friend and I were fortunate. We grew up in "Rocket City," Huntsville, Alabama. She has met just about anybody worth meeting, but Armstrong was always her favorite.
 
RAMOSS said:
I bought a NASA box lot at an auction, and there was a pamphlet in it that was an 'annviersery' tribute to Apollo 13, and it was autographed by Michael Collens, Buzz Alrdin and Neil Armstrong. The girl I took care of did a school project at Nasa when she was going to college, and manged to get photos of her and a couple of astronaughts.
Click to expand...

Nice!!
 
TurtleDude said:
I met Neil Armstrong a couple times since he was living in the Cincinnati area for awhile-his home town was a couple hours away. One of Buzz Aldrin's two sisters lived in a house across the street from where I lived from age 2-12 and his niece I used to play touch football and other games with with the other neighborhood kids. I only recall meeting Aldrin once and I believe it was before the moon walk.
Click to expand...

Ya know, much as I respect those guys, being the best of a group that were already the best and performing under the kind of difficult conditions that nobody else could even describe, much as I respect the men involved, I still look at the moon and wish there wasn't footprints on it.
Must be the unrepentant pagan in me.
 
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