
Astronaut John Young Has Died - NaOH
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/06/517138761/astronaut-john-young-who-flew-in-space-6-times-dies-at-87
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ColinWright
During the launch of the Apollo 16 mission, Charles Duke had a heartbeat of
144. It’s an absolutely natural response to the sensation of 7.5 million
pounds of thrust lifting 95 tons into orbit. John Young was commander of the
mission. His heart rate was 70. When asked about this he simply replied in an
even voice:

    
    
        “Yeah, well mine was too
         old to go any faster.”
    

The above is a quotation from [https://medium.com/@room_n/john-young-the-
astronaut-fe2c1076...](https://medium.com/@room_n/john-young-the-astronaut-
fe2c1076a986) which was submitted to HN some 9 months ago and got no
attention. There have been a couple of other submissions[0] about Capt Young's
passing, but I remember the way T.K.Mattingly, Tom Stafford, and Charlie Duke
all spoke of him. They all considered him one of the best they'd ever worked
or flown with.

As Scott Kelly said: Fair winds and following seas, Captain.

~~~
hcrisp
Another good quote by him from "In the Shadow of the Moon" (a quite amazing
film/documentary of Apollo featuring interviews with the actual astronauts):

[about driving the Lunar Rover] "What really saves you up there is there's
nobody coming down the road from the other way."

~~~
jacquesm
Check the Corn Beef Sandwich scandal.

~~~
arunmib
When I first heard about it, thought the person was making stuff up. Then I
got directed here - [http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:01:52:26/#log-
line-6746](http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:01:52:26/#log-line-6746). Also
learnt that there was questioning about the incident by appropriations
committee.

------
sizzzzlerz
And then there were five.

Moon walkers still living are Harrison Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, David
Scott, and Charlie Duke.

Is there any chance we'll have another person on the moon before these guys
are gone. They're all in their 80's now.

~~~
rainbowmverse
There are feats of engineering in orbit that make the Apollo program look like
a bunch of rocks in slingshots. One of them has had humans on board for close
to 20 years.

I like to think people who've set foot on the moon are able to see all we've
done in space, all we're doing, all we're about to do, and see the moon
landings as just one small but significant thing in context of the beadth of
human achievement.

~~~
ColinWright
The ones I've spoken to lament the fact that no one has gone beyond low Earth
orbit since 1972. They yearn to go out, and to learn on longer missions the
things that are currently being learned on the #ISS, and more.

The ones I've spoken to think it's wrong that so much is being done within 400
km of the Earth's surface, when they went so much further.

The ones I've spoken to acknowledge that the #ISS is a wonderful thing, and
that excellent work is being done. But it's clear that they think there's more
to do, and we're not doing it.

~~~
jacquesm
Who are the ones you've spoken to?

~~~
ColinWright
Moon-walkers: Alan Bean and Charlie Duke.

Other Moon orbiters: Jim Lovell, Tom Stafford, Fred Haise, Al Worden, and Ken
(TK) Mattingly.

Of those, I've had an extensive conversation with TK, moderate conversation
with Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, some conversation with Alan Bean, and listened
to talks and Q'n'A sessions with all of them.

Most were pretty moderate in the words they used, but in most cases you could
hear between the spoken lines the frustration, and the yearning to see flights
beyond LEO. In the longer, more personal conversations their feelings were
obvious when the topic came up, supporting the impression obtained from the
more moderate, public statements.

~~~
jacquesm
Wow, that's some esteemed company you're keeping.

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dbcurtis
I remember watching the STS-1 landing on TV. Young was supposed to stay inside
for something like 45 minutes for overly-conservative safety reasons. He broke
that rule, hard. He was out after after a few minutes, dancing around on the
tarmac, fist-pumping the air (at the shuttle) out of sheer joy at having
landed what he clearly thought was a wonderful flying machine. It was like
watching a 5-year-old on Christmas morning.

He loved his job.

~~~
ShabbyDoo
I just watched a Youtube video of the STS-1 landing. He definitely was a happy
guy, but it was nearly after landing until he finally exited the shuttle.

------
deepakb358
Once I had the fortune to meet and be interviewed by John Young for a
position. He was a pioneer in space travel and led humanity forward, yet he
was most humble and self effacing in person. It has been many years, but that
short period still stands out for his grace and kindness. May he rise in
peace. And hope that humanity builds on his legacy to explore farther and
faster.

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LoungeFlyZ
A good book that includes a lot about John is "Into the Black" about the
shuttle program. He was commander of STS-1 and was heavily involved in the
program.

------
teddyh
Obligatory xkcd:

 _65 years_

 _Number of living humans who have walked on another world_

[https://xkcd.com/893/](https://xkcd.com/893/)

~~~
amself
Alt-text: The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of
cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason
to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who
made the irrational decision

