RIP John Young, NASA Astronaut, 1930-2018

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bound_jenny
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RIP John Young, NASA Astronaut, 1930-2018

Post by bound_jenny »

Once in a while, there's a post in here marking some kind of space anniversary, milestone, or passing.

On Friday, January 5th, an unassuming man named John Young passed away, aged 87. Most won't remember him, but he did contribute a great deal to the NASA manned space program.

He flew on two missions each of the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. He flew on Gemini 3, the first manned Gemini mission, and Gemini 10. Then he went on to be the command module pilot on Apollo 10, becoming the first to fly solo around the Moon while his two companions did a practice descent in the lunar module (Neil and Buzz would go all the way down next time, on Apollo 11). He went to the Moon a second time (one of only three people to do so), this time on Apollo 16, landing on our satellite and leaving tire tracks with the lunar rover.

I remember him mostly from the very first Shuttle launch, STS-1, the first orbital flight of the space shuttle way back in 1981. I was glued to the TV at the time, following the mission almost continuously from launch to landing. Then to cap the ice cream with the cherry, he went on to fly on STS-9 later on.

He had the longest career of all with NASA, totaling 42 years of service, including a stint from 1974 to 1987 as Chief of the Astronaut Office.

One ordinary man with an extraordinary resume.

Rest in peace, John Young.

Jenny.
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Re: RIP John Young, NASA Astronaut, 1930-2018

Post by sweh »

Apparently, also the first astronaut to get an official reprimand from NASA for actions in space; ie bring food onto Gemini-3; a corned beef sandwich. https://twitter.com/DrRiley_Writes/stat ... 0993501184
beef.jpg
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Re: RIP John Young, NASA Astronaut, 1930-2018

Post by JIMDINI »

bound_jenny wrote:On Friday, January 5th, an unassuming man named John Young passed away, aged 87. Most won't remember him, but he did contribute a great deal to the NASA manned space program.
He was also the back up Commander for the Apollo 13 mission.

Those of us that have just dreamed of going into space tend to think of those who did as Supermen (and Women). It is humbling to think they might just be that nice unassuming gentleman living down the road.
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Re: RIP John Young, NASA Astronaut, 1930-2018

Post by ponylady »

Godspeed john young, whereever you are.
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