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Author
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Topic: 11/11: Cradle of Aviation's Air & Space Gala
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Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-10-2010 10:32 AM
   
From the Cradle of Aviation's Facebook post: Our 8th Annual Air & Space Gala will be held on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 at 6:30PM. We will be honoring US Senator & Shuttle Astronaut Bill Nelson and Globecomm CEO David Hershberg. Call 516-572-4026 for more info. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-28-2010 04:02 PM
Just got a "save the date" card from the Museum confirming the time and date, and that Bill Nelson will be honored with the Spirit of Discovery award, and that a "formal invitation" will follow.Nothing against him, or similar honorees Bobko and Cleave, but I'm waiting for Wetherbee to be honored by his hometown (Long Island) space museum. As well as Hoot Gibson, which by the way, I still don't think his plaque has been corrected at the museum. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-31-2010 10:48 AM
Just got a call from the Cradle of Aviation Museum regarding Nelson. It's a big dinner and dancing gala, and the tickets are "only"...$275 per person. |
Murph
Member Posts: 108
From: New York, NY USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 08-31-2010 08:02 PM
I have attended numerous dinners at the Cradle of Aviation, which is a wonderful museum and institution, but to honor Bill Nelson as an astronaut? After reading Mike Mullane's "Riding Rockets" I feel it is highly inappropriate to honor him. In fact, shameful. Gregory Jarvis might agree. |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-31-2010 11:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Murph:
Gregory Jarvis might agree.
One has to read Mullane's (excellent) book to get the sinister overtone of Murph's joke... Mullane postulates that, by meddling his way to a suitable flight assignment, the good senator bumped Jarvis onto the ill-fated 51L. Let us remember, though, that Nelson's maneuvering "saved" another astronaut... |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 09-01-2010 10:44 AM
I don't know if I'd be willing to pin that responsibility on anyone. The sun comes up and down with all sorts of twists and turns in between rise and set, but to point a finger like that....??? |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 09-01-2010 11:26 AM
Exactly. Mission 51I deployed a Leasat, and there exists some signed covers of the 51I crew with Jarvis (although it's unclear whether or not Jarvis signed at the same time as the crew, implying that he did some sort of training with them, or afterward.) So why wasn't Jarvis assigned to 51I after Brandenstein's 51D crew was changed around?Getting back to topic, I realize that the gala is most likely a museum fundraiser. I've been a museum attendee since the mid '80s - I remember when they had a model of the Fairchild T-46 Next Generation Trainer, for example. But IMHO, $275 is a lot, if that is indeed the final ticket cost. The last time I paid that much for dinner it was at the Waldorf Astoria, where I got to see Neil Armstrong, hear Arthur C. Clarke talk, and see and meet Walter Cronkite, among other highlights. |
Murph
Member Posts: 108
From: New York, NY USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 09-01-2010 04:52 PM
Google Books offers a excerpt from Riding Rockets, and Mullane's thoughts on Nelson (as well as Garn) can be found on page 204. Honoring Nelson as an "astronaut"? The difference between Nelson and a bag of tools on that flight is that a bag of tools performs a useful function. Mercury Chimp Ham was, at least, performing a useful function. That is more than Nelson ever did. |
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