50th anniversary of the moon landing

[Flying Fox]

Over the years, I’ve asked many an SO and FO how many men walked on the moon. Around 95% say 3! A couple have said none, at which point they had given away any chance of me letting them have a sector.

A few could name them all. Can any of you, without looking it up....?

Wasn't born for this event. Without reference, I'm guessing 12 men on the moon.

I can only think of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin & Gene Cernan.

I'm guessing Ken Mattingly also walked on the moon.

 

[jb747]

Wasn't born for this event. Without reference, I'm guessing 12 men on the moon.

I can only think of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin & Gene Cernan.

I'm guessing Ken Mattingly also walked on the moon.

No, Ken never did. At that point, he was a command module pilot, so like Michael Collins, he was mean to get very close, just not all the way. He did as CMP on Apollo 16. He also got to fly the Space Shuttle. Basically Swigert was his backup, and had been scheduled for 16, so they swapped positions.

The 12:
Neil Armstrong
Buzz Aldrin

Pete Conrad
Al Bean

Al Shepherd
Ed Mitchell

Dave Scott
Jim Irwin

John Young
Charlie Duke

Gene Cernan
Harrison Schmitt

Only 4 left now.

Projected crews for the cancelled missions are interesting, though there is an element of conjecture to them.

Apollo 18 originally included Harrison Schmitt, and he was moved forward when it was cancelled. He displaced Joe Engle, who eventually got to fly the Space Shuttle twice. 18 was to be commanded by Dick Gordon, who was CMP on Apollo 12.

19 was to be Fred Haise and Gerald Carr. Fred didn't fly again after Apollo 13, but Carr flew on Skylab.

20 was possibly going to be Stu Roosa (CMP on 14), and Jack Lousma. Stu didn't fly again after 14, but Jack flew Skylab and Shuttle

 

[flyer89]

Interestingly, Armstrong’s selection group “The New Nine” is widely considered to be the best group NASA ever selected.

Aside from Armstrong it included John Young who is considered to be one of the greatest pilots to ever grace the earth. He was also the commander of STS-1, the shuttles test flight.

 

[jb747]

Interestingly, Armstrong’s selection group “The New Nine” is widely considered to be the best group NASA ever selected.

Aside from Armstrong it included John Young who is considered to be one of the greatest pilots to ever grace the earth. He was also the commander of STS-1, the shuttles test flight.

I suspect that it would be very hard to distinguish between the flying ability of any of the graduates of the TP course, let alone those that got through astronaut selection. A number of books actually describe Armstrong as being one of the weaker in terms of raw piloting skill, but all praise his analytical ability. I'll bet the difference between weakest and strongest is about the size of a gnat's proverbial.

"Riding Rockets" is one of the few books by the Shuttle Astronauts. Young isn't discussed in a great light in that book, though the perspective is management, not piloting.

There don't appear to be any books from the later shuttle commanders that I've been able to track down.

 

[flyer89]

I suspect that it would be very hard to distinguish between the flying ability of any of the graduates of the TP course, let alone those that got through astronaut selection. A number of books actually describe Armstrong as being one of the weaker in terms of raw piloting skill, but all praise his analytical ability. I'll bet the difference between weakest and strongest is about the size of a gnat's proverbial.

"Riding Rockets" is one of the few books by the Shuttle Astronauts. Young isn't discussed in a great light in that book, though the perspective is management, not piloting.

There don't appear to be any books from the later shuttle commanders that I've been able to track down.

Yes, the praise for Young was by his peers for his piloting skill. Charles Bolden names Young and Robert Gibson as the best pilots he ever came across. I remember reading that one of the reasons Armstrong was appealing to NASA was his lack of ego in contrast to Buzz who was all ego. Management reportedly gave Armstrong the option of replacing Aldrin with Lovell as he was so difficult to work with.

 

[jb747]

.... and Robert Gibson as the best pilots he ever came across.

Robert aka 'Hoot' Gibson, was the bloke I hoped had written a book. He was originally a USN F4 and F14 pilot, then had an amazing career on the shuttle, and post NASA flew 737s for one of the US domestics.

 

[flyer89]

Robert aka 'Hoot' Gibson, was the bloke I hoped had written a book. He was originally a USN F4 and F14 pilot, then had an amazing career on the shuttle, and post NASA flew 737s for one of the US domestics.

I would’ve loved to have read it too. Flew for Southwest I think and still competes in air races. There’s a few former astronauts at Southwest and at least one (Charlie Hobaugh) at FedEx.

 

[Gold60]

i was in Year 5 in Townsville at the time. We were sent home early to watch the landing - Mum made sure we did.

memorable occasion for me......