posted 01-11-2013 07:16 AM               

Shuttle vets Brown, Collins and Dunbar to enter Astronaut Hall of Fame

A trailblazing commander, the commander of a trailblazer, and a payload commander will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame this April.

Eileen Collins, the first woman to lead a shuttle mission, Curtis Brown, who commanded John Glenn's triumphant return to space and Bonnie Dunbar, who managed life and science experiments on Spacelab and Mir space station missions, were confirmed as this year's honorees by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), which oversees the Hall of Fame's annual selections.

The three veteran shuttle crew members will be added to the 81 astronauts enshrined in the Astronaut Hall of Fame since 1990, including NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo program pioneers.

An induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 20, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, where the Astronaut Hall of Fame is located.

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation will host a gala in the three astronauts' honor on Friday, April 19, with many of the Hall's earlier inductees expected to attend.

posted 04-20-2013 08:26 AM               

The reception at the Astronaut Hall of Fame allowed for some great discussions, including a spirited exchange between Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Walker and Fred Ordway — all National Space Society veterans — about where humans should go next (moon, Mars or asteroid), with Walt Cunningham joining in on the same topic later in the evening. Suffice to say, all three destinations have their advocates.

Some of my favorite moments over the evening were on the bus ride to and from the Apollo Saturn V Center, as it gave me a chance to catch up with John Shannon, former space shuttle program manager and now Boeing's program manager for the International Space Station.

At the gala, I was seated with fellow cS'ers Tim Gagnon and Ken Havekotte (and their lovely wives), as well as Luis Berrios, NASA's senior exhibit design specialist currently working on completing the Atlantis exhibit, and astronaut Pinky Nelson and his wife Susie. Pinky kept us entertained the entire evening with stories about Ox (van Hoften) and other astronauts, all of which were strictly "off-the-record," so I'll just say Pinky (and Ox) should write a book.

The evening included the news that Charlie Duke is stepping down after two years as Astronaut Scholarship Foundation chairman and that Dan Brandenstein will be taking his place. In addition, after 12 years leading the organization, Linn Leblanc has resigned to pursue a new opportunity. She received three standing ovations during the gala, all richly deserved. She will be missed.

Dick Gordon, Hoot Gibson and Joe Allen led the live auction at the end of the evening, which was a show unto itself. The three lots — a signed Saturn V model, a signed canvas print and the chance to have your photo taken with all the astronaut attendees and have it signed by all, went for thousands of dollars each, funding more scholarships. It was great seeing some of the astronauts get into the bidding — including inductee Curt Brown — and B-47/B-52 test pilot Dick Taylor took home the Saturn V, to the noted delight of Hoot Gibson.

posted 04-21-2013 03:20 PM               

Astronaut Hall of Fame adds space shuttle vets Brown, Collins and Dunbar

Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the space shuttle, entered the ranks of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame wearing the same two-piece blue suit that she wore to her astronaut selection interview nearly 25 years ago.

"It is really old and it is little bit tighter on me, but it is the same suit I wore for the interview and I saved it," Collins told reporters on Saturday (April 20), just before attending the ceremony that saw her and her fellow astronauts Curt Brown and Bonnie Dunbar enshrined into the Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. "It is as close to 'NASA blue' as I could find at the time."

The twelfth group of space shuttle veterans to be inducted into the Hall, the 2013 class was the first to include more women than men. Collins and Dunbar, the latter a mission specialist and payload commander who flew five times to space, were honored just two months shy of the 30 year anniversary of the first American woman flying in space, the late Sally Ride, who was inducted in 2003.

posted 04-22-2013 09:17 PM               

This year's event was indoors and appeared to be in some sort of small auditorium. Is this a new facility that is, perhaps, part of the new Atlantis exhibit which will be opening on June 29?

The induction ceremony is usually held on the first Saturday of May of each year, although I recall, that several years ago, it was postponed until the first Saturday in June, due to a schedule conflict. Being outdoors, the Florida heat and humidity really made many of us attendees (and astronauts!) rather miserable.

I'm sure that everyone who attended this year's ceremony was happy to have it indoors again in air-conditioned comfort. I don't know what the seating capacity of the auditorium is, but I hope it was large enough to accommodate all those who had paid extra for a ticket to the ceremony.

I also believe that the KSC Visitor Complex might need to do a bit of "tweaking" on the lighting in the auditorium, especially for NASA TV broadcasts. The lighting for the ceremony appeared to be somewhat improvised and unbalanced with harsh shadows in some areas, when watching on TV.

Regardless, the facility appears to be a big improvement over what was previously available for events like this.

posted 04-22-2013 09:31 PM               

Otherwise, it would have been hosted outside under the covered NASA Central.

The Astronaut Encounter theater is not especially large. I don't know if everyone who reserved a seat had one (I suspect they did, as there were a few empty seats near me), but it did prevent the public from just walking up and watching during the event.

posted 04-22-2013 10:13 PM               

Except for the potential weather problems, I did like the arrangement at NASA Central where the astronauts would walk down the center aisle as they were introduced. This allowed for some excellent photo and video opportunities by all guests in attendance.