posted on October 22, 2004 07:41:05 AM new
Dumb question - is Mercury 6 and Gemini IV part of the space shuttle program? They were before Apollo right? I'm looking for a category here
posted on October 22, 2004 08:27:19 AM new
They were the build-up to the Apollo MOON SHOT -- all in the early 60's...
MERCURY = 1 astronaut
GEMINI = 2 astronauts
Original Mercury astronauts really had THE RIGHT STUFF
Gordo Cooper just died last month
John Glenn -- 1st American to orbit the Earth
Alan Sheppard -- 1st American in space.
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom -- died in the Apollo I fire
Deke Slayton
Wally Schirra (sp??)
Scott Carpenter
TRUE HEROS -- ALL
(NOT part of the SHUTTLE program, which started, I believe, in 1981 or 82?)
posted on October 22, 2004 08:35:20 AM new
Too bad the public is only now hearing about the women who participated in the Mercury project--they had the right stuff too. Passed the same physicals and the same tests, but never allowed into space.
The Mercury 13: Jerrie Cobb, Bernice Steadman, Janey Hart, Jerri Truhill, Rhea Woltman, Sarah Ratley, Jan and Marion Dietrich, Myrtle Cagle, Irene Leverton, Gene Nora Jessen, Jean Hixson, and Wally Funk
____________________
"Bad temper is its own scourge. Few things are more bitter than to feel bitter. A man's venom poisons himself more than his victim." --Charles Buxton
posted on October 22, 2004 09:12:51 AM new
Yeah, watched it about 20X
Always have been stunned by the amazing courage of these 7!
Also, APOLLO proves (as did the MANHATTAN PROJECT) that when the USA decides to do sumptin 100% -- nothing's impossible!
The benefits from the APOLLO program trickled down to the general population &, nowadays, thingys we take for granted (PCs & TANG & BATTERIES ETC ETC) sprouted it the massive technological explosion demanded of the MOON SHOT!
Twas dollars well spent -- but possibly could not be duplicated today (or, sadly, ever again??)!
The EAGLE did land, & we are all much blessed because of it
posted on October 22, 2004 09:16:57 AM new
If anyone wants to watch a great series on this, check out "From the Earth To The Moon" DVD set. twelve one-hour episodes chronicling the whole story. MUCH more indepth than The Right Stuff.
This was created by Tom Hanks right after Apollo 13 was a big hit.
--------------------------------------
We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing -- Anonymous
Mercury 13's Wally Funk Fights for Her Place in Space
Sam Burbank
National Geographic Today
July 9, 2003
At 64, Wally Funk, a test pilot who's a legend in American aviation, is still fighting for an opportunity to go into space.
In 1961 Funk, from Taos, New Mexico, was among the Mercury 13, the first 13 women slated to enter the "Women in Space" program—until NASA abruptly cancelled it later that year.
The Soviet Union sent a woman astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova, into space in 1963. But not until 1983 would Sally Ride break the space gender barrier for American women when she went aloft on the Challenger STS-7 mission.
____________________
"Bad temper is its own scourge. Few things are more bitter than to feel bitter. A man's venom poisons himself more than his victim." --Charles Buxton
