
Edgar D. Mitchell, Sixth Moonwalking Astronaut, Dies at 85 - NaOH
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/science/space/edgar-d-mitchell-sixth-moonwalking-astronaut-dies-at-85.html
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keithpeter
_"...He became fascinated by flight when he watched crop duster pilots flying
biplanes from an airfield near his home."_

Biplanes -> Looking at Earth from Moon in 40 years. This was my parents
generation. I read Andrew Smith's _Moondust_ and remembered how important the
Apollo imagery on TV was to me as a child.

[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/24/biography.featu...](http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/24/biography.features)

~~~
lisper
Nixie tube calculators and punched cards -> Macbook Pro with Retina display.
Encyclopedia Britannica taking up two meters of shelf space (and often
requiring a trip to the library) -> Wikipedia over a 4G network. That's my
generation :-)

~~~
wtvanhest
I completely understand the desire to want to see physical changes in the real
world, but the last 40 years have been extremely important in terms of
building out learning infrastructure.

I'm very confident that the next 40 years are going to be nothing short of
breathtaking in terms of the acceleration of innovation.

~~~
keithpeter
Hoping to see first half or perhaps a bit more of that (I'm pushing 60)

In my case: line noise on teletype -> tablets

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crawshaw
"You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense
dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something
about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty.
You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter
of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.”"

[http://lazenby.tumblr.com/post/30206152130/well-right-
natura...](http://lazenby.tumblr.com/post/30206152130/well-right-naturally-
you-should-hate)

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garrettheaver
Sadly none of these guys are getting any younger. The youngest person from the
Apollo missions is now 80 years old. Humanity really needs to get a move on if
we're to avoid the scenario where there is nobody left alive who has walked on
the moon.

~~~
ekianjo
Why do you need to have humans alive who walked on the moon? It was an
interesting experiment at some point, but there's not much to gain to do it
over and over again, unless you plan to have a permanent human presence there.

~~~
DanBC
The current astronauts generate significant interest in STEM in school
children. For example, Tim Peake took a bag of seeds to space. When he gets
down they're going to send the seeds to schools along with some seeds that
didn't go to space. Children are going to run experiments growing and
comparing both sets of seeds.

Reaction from children is along the lines of "this is so cool; I want to work
in space stuff".

~~~
garrettheaver
I agree, I think the ISS is an utterly amazing achievement. In so many ways I
think it really is a prime candidate for humanities greatest achievement so
far.

In many ways you make a very valid point, the ISS is what we've been up to for
the last few decades rather than going back to the moon and the research
coming from it will be essential in preparing for longer journeys. But for all
that I stare up and marvel at it passing overhead some nights, it just doesn't
hold the same mystique of say the moon or further afield.

~~~
nextos
Yes, and ISS like other 2 incredible achievements (Human Genome Project and
CERN particle accelerators) are international collaborations.

Even GNU is something inherently supranational.

This should teach us something, I think.

------
bootload
_" NASA had hoped that they could climb to the rim of the nearly 400-foot-high
Cone crater and collect especially significant rock samples there. But in
lugging the cart the astronauts found the climb to be difficult and
experienced rapid heartbeats. Mission control, concerned about exhaustion and
wary of time constraints, ordered them to turn back. Unbeknown to the men at
the time, they were only about 20 yards from their goal."_

Missed opportunity. Next landing, Apollo 15 was designated a _" J"_ mission
with the LRV to explore the highlands. ~
[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo15.h...](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo15.html)
These fellas are getting on. Saw Harrison (Jack) Schmitt in '04, Charlie Duke
was in the country last year. RIP Spaceman.

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jballanc
It's a bit sad to think that the Apollo program might end up being something
of a modern-day Roanoke Colony. I really hope that we manage to get back to
the moon before the last of the original moon walkers leaves us.

------
interfixus
Mitchell was last man standing from Apollo 14, the first entire moon crew we
have lost.

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givan
> Mr. Mitchell created a stir in 2008 when he told a British radio station
> that his contacts in military and intelligence circles had told him that
> “we’ve been visited on this planet, and the U.F.O. phenomena is real,” but
> that governments had “covered up” the matter for at least 60 years.

Ingo Swann tells a fascinating story about the moon in his book
[http://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Question-
Extraterrestrial-...](http://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Question-
Extraterrestrial-Human-Telepathy-ebook/dp/B00OQT960G/)

~~~
tcj_phx
"This small book is divided into three parts. And it is with regard to the
first part that I join a very long list of those who have seen and experienced
things they cannot prove happened."

I went to Mr. Swann's Las Vegas talks in 2004 and 2006. He told me personally
that he should have written more fiction, which paid better than working in
the lab, but their first big grant came along at the same time...

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mhomde
Aww, I remember him from watching the excellent documentary "In the shadow of
the moon"
([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/)).
Highly recommended, seems like astronauts age really well. They all looked
like a spry bunch

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seoguru
Edgar Mitchell and the Big Picture Effect:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE-
PUTVULFg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE-PUTVULFg)

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FiatLuxDave
I may be the last HN commenter to see Ed Mitchell. I had lunch with him at the
Beach Club a few months ago, before he got sick(er). He was very close with a
member of my family; she is very broken up right now.

He was a very interesting and intelligent guy. I'm not really sure what more
to say.

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johntaitorg
Was it really happen, moonwalk NAH

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influx
Godspeed.

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notthemessiah
Relevant XKCD: [https://xkcd.com/893/](https://xkcd.com/893/)

