astronauts we've met

[ApolloXI]

I have met
Story Musgrave
Samuel Durrance
Bob Springer
Hoot Gibson
and some KSC astornuat I can't remember his name.

[Pete Conrad Fan]

So Far

Jon McBride
Hoot Gibson
Mike Mullane
BOB SPRINGER!


I've seen most all of them in person...
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... FB97460619

You'll have to be my 'friend' to see them, but add me...I'll accept.

[Conan]

I have met:
Byron Lichtenberg
Hoot Gibson
Story Musgrave
John Glenn
and I saw in person but didn't speak to Alan Shepard

[rkolker]

Some of the more interesting ones....

Of the original seven, I've met Shepard, Carpenter, Schirra and Cooper, and have an autograph from Glenn that I got from Steve Robinson, who flew with him on his shuttle flight.

John Young sat across the aisle from me on a flight to Houston.

Steve Robinson and Ed Lu rented a house from me in Houston.

Byron Lichtenberg helped me fly on the Vomit Comet after he was a speaker at Space Camp.

Story Musgrave was the primary speaker at the annual conference the Clear Lake NSS Chapter held when I was Chair.

Buzz Aldrin and Pete Conrad are/were always around the space advocacy events I attended, usually at a party. Two great guys to talk space with.

I worked with Mike Coats at Loral. He gave me a copy of his "shuttle landing sites" manual I always bring to Space Camp in case we need to make an emergency landing.

I shared a Hot tub (with about six others) with Owen Garriott on a Ski trip at Big Sky.

I hosted Janice Voss for a conversation on Compuserve (remember Compuserve?)

The Apollo Soyuz crew, particularly Tom Stafford who was bored by the tour he was being given, and stopped by my computer station to ask me what I was working on (new mission control software at the time).

Chuck Yeager (yeah, he's not an astronaut, but it was a cool conversation) in the Press room at the World SF convention when he was there publicizing The Right Stuff.

From the Flight Director console - Chris Kraft (I interviewed him several times when I was a student at Virginia Tech), Gene Kranz (I have a fun story to tell about that one some time)

A whole bunch of cosmonauts I met when I spent a week in Starry Town (Star City). Notably one of them later sewed the patch I made for that trip onto his flightsuit, and that flightsuit was auctioned at Southeby's, so I can say I had artwork auctioned at Southeby's.

Since I worked at JSC and KSC, along the way I've met lots more.

Astronauts are like any group of people -- some nice, some not, some it depends on how and when you meet them.

[iheartspacecamp]

Sarah you forgot Bob Springer!

My astronaut list is tiny

Bob Springer
Hoot Gibson

[monkeynautt]

Rich, did you tell us the Gene Kranz story at camp?

[rkolker]

Rich, did you tell us the Gene Kranz story at camp?

Probably not, but given all the driving I did to and from camp, I wasn't really all there all weekend, so here it is. To a certain extent, you had to be there.

When I worked for Ford Aerospace (later Loral, even later part of Lockheed Martin) in Houston, I was part of the prototyping lab, working on next generation mission control hardware and software. This was during the time work had begun on the Space Station Control Center. We had some spare lab space, so we loaned it out to a group of designers who were designing and building the consoles on/in which the mission control workstations would sit.

We'd occasionally serve as guinea pigs, trying out different chairs or console heights, or set up our computers on their console.

They had all kinds of requirements. Some sensible. Others IMHO silly. But finally they came up with their ultimate design, and were ready to demo it for Kranz, who was head of MOD (Mission Operations Directorate) at the time.

So, Kranz comes in, and they give him the dog and pony show, and everything seems to be going okay until the woman in charge of the effort pulls out one of those paint chips you can find at Home Depot and says "this is the color we've chosen...it's gray with just a touch of lavender." You could see Kranz's face tighten up, and the Marine saying (inside, he was silent) "No lavender in MY control room."

The next day the console team was gone. They ended up buying consoles from a commercial manufacturer.

But that's another story.

[Pete Conrad Fan]

Sarah you forgot Bob Springer!

My astronaut list is tiny

Bob Springer
Hoot Gibson

I KNEW there was someone I left out! I put him in all caps for my faux pas.

AND, I would have met Tom Jones yesterday, as I was standing in his line for book autographs (and space camp barbie was ready to go!) when the handler came out and said he was at the LCC and would not be able to make it.

Sad

Al Worden was being a grouch too, so I didn't bother going up to him. Talk about bitter. He didn't say very many nice things about the shuttle astronauts. And he was so cool at the Astronaut Hall of Fame Inductions. Maybe because he was around all his Apollo buddies. Who knows!

[Laura]

I never thought to make a list - good idea.

Tony Antonelli
Jan Davis
Samuel Durrance
Owen Garriott
Chris Hadfield
Jim Halsell
Sally Ride
Winston Scott
Michael McCulley
Donald McMonagle
Dotty Mettcalf-Linnenberger
Story Musgrave

Of all of them, I know Sam Durrance the best; he was my professor, and he helped me through an emotional grad school decision period.

And I don't think Captain Kirk counts, Laura, but if he does, I “met” him too!


Edited because I forgot one!

[ApolloXI]

I never thought to make a list - good idea.

Tony Antonelli
Jan Davis
Samuel Durrance
Owen Garriott
Chris Hadfield
Jim Halsell
Sally Ride
Winston Scott
Michael McCulley
Donald McMonagle
Dotty Mettcalf-Linnenberger
Story Musgrave

Of all of them, I know Sam Durrance the best; he was my professor, and he helped me through an emotional grad school decision period.

And I don't think Captain Kirk counts, Laura, but if he does, I “met” him too!


Edited because I forgot one!

Hey Laura did you got to FIT, I went there a few years for my freshman year?

[Laura]

Hey Laura did you got to FIT, I went there a few years for my freshman year?

Yes, I did, graduated May 2006.

Was your freshman year a few years ago, or did you have a freshman year that lasted several years?

[ApolloXI]

Hey Laura did you got to FIT, I went there a few years for my freshman year?

Yes, I did, graduated May 2006.

Was your freshman year a few years ago, or did you have a freshman year that lasted several years?

My freshman year was back in 2004 I am now going to a comm. college up here in Nashville.

[Hotdog]

Tony Antonelli
Jan Davis
Samuel Durrance
Owen Garriott
Chris Hadfield
Jim Halsell
Sally Ride
Winston Scott
Michael McCulley
Donald McMonagle
Dotty Mettcalf-Linnenberger
Story Musgrave

Daing, that's quite a list!

[SpaceCanada]

I can now add:

Hoot Gibson
Chris Hadfield
Pat Forrester

(I previously met Julie Payette and saw Robterta Bondar.)

[rkolker]

I knew I forgot something significant.

I flew the vomit comet with most of the Canadian Astronaut corps (as of 1989).

With the cooperation of the folks at JSC, I am tracking down the photos from that vomit comet flight. I'll let everyone know when I have them up at rkolker.com/gallery.