Fish
Blaspheming Bog Rat
Fishin' Michigan!
Posts: 49
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Post by Fish on Jul 20, 2009 18:50:11 GMT -5
Forty years ago today men first walked on the moon. I can remember watching the event on our color TV (that was high tech for 1969). I had no idea as to the significance of what I was watching. I only knew that it was neat-o (the word of choice at that time) to watch rockets blast off and to watch the astronauts that had captured this (then) young boy's imagination.
I remember going outside to look at the moon that night and I can still hear my father telling me that there were people walking around on it. I think he was trying to instill in me the importance of the moment. He was trying to make it stick in my young, 5 yr old mind. He succeeded and my heroes, the astronauts, would have a profound affect on my life.
I never missed an Apollo launch. I would sit GLUED to the television for hours......waiting......waiting for that final countdown. I would recite it along with the NASA controller whose voice crackled from the Johnson Space Center. Ten....nine....eight...seven.... As the numbers counted down, my heart rate would do the opposite.
The Apollo missions and the men who mastered them left a lasting mark on me. It was the Apollo missions that ultimately led me to the path of aviation, starting with the Air Force. Many of my heroes have worn space suits (that's me on the right...20 yrs ago).That path led me to more amazing things than I can count. I've been blessed to have had the experiences that I only knew because I was watching Walter Cronkite on July 20, 1969 and because men dared to conquer the moon.
I'm making this post because I honor and thank those men.
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Post by Man in Black on Jul 21, 2009 14:00:46 GMT -5
I was minus three years old when they first landed on our satellite. It is still an event that has affected me profoundly also. My imagination has been shaped and energized by our space program for as long as I can remember.
That's a really cool thought your Father had to take you out to look at the moon while they were up there. Sounds like the way I think. And it's great to put a face to the "Fish" thanks for the picture - where was that at?
One of the things still on my bucket list is to see a space shuttle launch. I missed one in May an hour. I went to Florida to see a good friend's graduation and when I bought my bus ticket I got it for a day before the Atlantis was scheduled to launch. About a week before I left they changed it to the day I arrived... I wound up missing it by about an hour. But, that still leaves me something to look forward to, because I am planning to see one before they end the shuttle program.
I did get to see a shuttle twice, but it was from a great distance both times. (Once at Key West at night which was awesome.)
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Fish
Blaspheming Bog Rat
Fishin' Michigan!
Posts: 49
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Post by Fish on Aug 1, 2009 17:11:19 GMT -5
I certainly envy you the opportunity to see a shuttle launch, MIB. I'd love to think that I might get that chance before the program ends. I'll let you know if that opportunity affords itself. Maybe you and I can make our own little pilgrimage. As for the pic, it was taken in Sept. of 1989 just days before I got out of the Air Force. The man in the pressure suit is Bill Anderson. He was the designer of the TR-1B model, a rewired trainer version of the U-2 recon aircraft. The jet in that pic is 1064 (six-four). Allow me to digress for a moment. You've seen a pic of that jet before when it was white. U-2s and TR-1s are generally black, while the trainers used to be painted white (the standard color for AF training aircraft) .Just before I got out, however, they decided to paint the trainers black as well. Bill Anderson was the right hand man to Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. KJ was the man who designed not only the U-2, but also the SR-71 Blackbird, his greatest and most well known achievement. Bill flew as a passenger in '64's back seat (his first and only flight on a deuce) on that particular day. It was actually a pretty damned cool moment. And I'm glad that they had cameras around to capture the moment because it was one of my last launch and recoveries as '64's crew chief. And to tie in with the talk of the shuttle program that we've had in another thread, the space suits that the shuttle astronauts wore in those days was modeled on the suit that Bill Anderson is wearing.
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Post by Man in Black on Aug 3, 2009 12:40:33 GMT -5
What a sweet plane, that must have been an awesome job!
And I'd love to have a partner on the shuttle expedition, all my friends here just say "that might be cool" but none offer to go with me.
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