But Wait There's More: John Young is the coolest astronaut evar.

• Longest career of any astronaut, & only person to have piloted four different classes of spacecraft
• Two Gemeni missions including the first manned Gemini flight
• Two Apollo flights including a moonwalk & drove the moon buggy
• Two Shuttle missions including Columbia's first flight
• Astronaut Office chief
• Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, six honorary doctorate degrees

/mancrush

I've read that he wasn't such a great administrator when he ran the astronaut office. Not that that takes anything away from his astounding flight achievements, he's possibly the greatest space explorer ever so far (and also one of the lesser-known ones). Besides, sometimes the best do-ers are poorly suited to admin duty.

+1 for John Young. I'd go gay for him.

a photo of the crews of STS-107 and STS-51.


yes, a window seat please. ;-(

Wow that really puts it in perspective. I vividly remember watching that first flight launch.
Dang got something in my eye.

This is why the Apollo Lunar Surface Journals are so cool:

128:50:37 Young: I have the farts, again. I got them again, Charlie. I don't know what the hell gives them to me. Certainly not...I think it's acid stomach. I really do.

128:50:44 Duke: It probably is.

128:50:45 Young: (Laughing) I mean, I haven't eaten this much citrus fruit in 20 years! And I'll tell you one thing, in another 12 farking days, I ain't never eating any more. And if they offer to sup(plement) me potassium with my breakfast, I'm going to throw up! (Pause) I like an occasional orange. Really do. (Laughs) But I'll be durned if I'm going to be buried in oranges.

That's a conversation between John Young and Charlie Duke, while on the surface of the moon.

> Young: I have the farts, again.

Man, a fart in a spacesuit must really NOT be very funny (for the guy in the spacesuit, at least).

Robert Crippen is wearing an old Navy jacket.

I got a "backstage pass" at the Kansas Cosmosphere back in the mid-90's when the Apollo 13 Command Module arrived (yes, I got to go inside of it). Got to see a lot of space hardware still in restoration, such as the Apollo era suit that Young had worn which was presented in a "cutaway" fashion. Underneath that white fabric, the inner materials had an almost Steampunk look to it.

/Young has a kind of "deer in the headlights" expression in the last 2 photos, imo.

When I was 8, we were in Florida for vacation and watched the maiden launch of SC Discovery. This past march, I was the Captain of an airliner flying past the Kennedy Space Center as it touched down for the last time.

/CSB?

dittybopper: This is why the Apollo Lunar Surface Journals are so cool:

128:50:37 Young: I have the farts, again. I got them again, Charlie. I don't know what the hell gives them to me. Certainly not...I think it's acid stomach. I really do.

128:50:44 Duke: It probably is.

128:50:45 Young: (Laughing) I mean, I haven't eaten this much citrus fruit in 20 years! And I'll tell you one thing, in another 12 farking days, I ain't never eating any more. And if they offer to sup(plement) me potassium with my breakfast, I'm going to throw up! (Pause) I like an occasional orange. Really do. (Laughs) But I'll be durned if I'm going to be buried in oranges.

That's a conversation between John Young and Charlie Duke, while on the surface of the moon.

Dammit, man, I was going to be productive this evening...

I still have the original newspaper clipping of STS-1... Might have to go dig it out and scan it...

Feeling snubbed.

gbcinques
a photo of the crews of STS-107 and STS-51.

Not to take away from the joke but
... reports of the remains of STS-107 say that they were still identifiable bags of meat.

and

... STS-51-L They were likely alive on impact with the water.

I think Charlie Duke and John Young had the most fun of any crew on the lunar surface. But Young is at best a close second to Pete Conrad for the title of "Coolest Astronaut Ever."

I mean the man's motto was, "If you can't be good, be colorful."

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HMS_Blinkin: But Wait There's More: John Young is the coolest astronaut evar.

• Longest career of any astronaut, & only person to have piloted four different classes of spacecraft
• Two Gemeni missions including the first manned Gemini flight
• Two Apollo flights including a moonwalk & drove the moon buggy
• Two Shuttle missions including Columbia's first flight
• Astronaut Office chief
• Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, six honorary doctorate degrees

/mancrush

I've read that he wasn't such a great administrator when he ran the astronaut office. Not that that takes anything away from his astounding flight achievements, he's possibly the greatest space explorer ever so far (and also one of the lesser-known ones). Besides, sometimes the best do-ers are poorly suited to admin duty.

Does the moon buggy qualify as a fifth spacecraft despite also being a car? Because you're driving a car... on the farking moon.

Admiral James T. Kirk agrees about desk jobs.