posted 04-11-2003 10:37 PM
I regret not having video taped the lecture this evening. Who knew John Young was a stand-up comedian? I certainly didn't. Young's wit and perfect comedic timing lead to some very, very funny moments -- and a few serious ones. A random sampling as based on my memory (I just returned, so I am hoping this is fairly fresh and therefore somewhat accurate): "The corned beef sandwich" - When Gus took a bite of the sandwich he turned to John and said, "You're in a lot of trouble... you forgot the mustard." John was in a lot of trouble, but not for that. (And oh, btw, it wasn't even the first sandwich in space -- it was the third.)
"A memoir" - John doesn't have time right now to pen his memoirs, but perhaps he will someday. Afterall, he hasn't told us "how bad it really was".
"STS-1 reentry" - Recently, John learned that a wheel well on Columbia's maiden flight was propped open during reentry and hot plasma did breach the well. No other details.
"Its the law" -- The Space Act of 1958 says that NASA should be pushing humanity into space. As NASA is not currently doing that, everyone at NASA should be arrested.
"Will you fly again" - Flying again would be hazardous to Johh's health. His wife would kill him.
"About public space travel [space tourism]" - Its a great idea. John always wanted to take a module in the payload bay, fill it with 30 to 40 people and take them for a ride. Open the payload bay doors, you would have windows above. Just fill it with barf bags and you would be all set.
"Speaking of wives" -- How much time away from your family was demanded to prepare for your flights? Many. Many many. Probably even more than that.
"Where should NASA be going" - Back to the Moon (don't put a telescope at L1 or L2 where it can't be serviced; put it on the Moon) and on to Mars.
"About Captain Bob [Crippen]" - Crippen was the right guy for STS-1 because he lead 60 programmers developing the on-board computer. If something were to go wrong, John would have the expert ready to take action. Where were the computer controls? Directly over John's head.
"About Gus Grissom" - Gus knew that it didn't matter how many hours you spent in the simulator, it wouldn't prepare you for what you would learn from actual flight.
"About Mike Collins" - Collins brought the NASM to existence under budget and ahead of schedule. That's never happened before or again in the federal government.
"About the Apollo 16 crew" - A good looking trio -- back then. Today, not as much.
"About the risks of spaceflight" -- Never considered it. Never even knew about risk assessments until someone showed him the report drafted for Galileo.
Also... overall risk of civilization ending (Super Volcano/ Impact) event - 1 in 455. Today you have a greater chance being killed by a civilization ending event than you do flying on a commercial airline. But NASA will fix that -- they will make commercial airflight even more dangerous.
"About being a national hero" -- John got paid to do what he enjoyed. He got paid to have fun. He doesn't consider himself a hero.
[This message has been edited by Robert Pearlman (edited April 11, 2003).]
posted 04-11-2003 10:37 PM
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