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Author Topic:   CBS News reporter Mike Wallace (1918-2012)
Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-08-2012 01:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
CBS News legend Mike Wallace, the 60 Minutes "pit-bull reporter whose probing, brazen style made his name synonymous with the tough interview — a style he practically invented for television more than half a century ago" — died last night (April 7). He was 93.

In 1995, Wallace spoke with The Dallas Morning News about his coverage of the space program in connection with his hosting A&E's "Crisis in Space: The Real Story of Apollo 13."

Mike Wallace is trying to recall where he was when Apollo 13 blasted off and then nearly fell apart with three astronauts aboard.

"I probably was on an airplane, traveling for 60 Minutes," he says from his vacation home on Martha's Vineyard. "Or maybe I was watching it in a hotel room. But you know, I really don't remember."

Mr. Wallace says he "covered a lot of space" for CBS News until 60 Minutes was launched on Sept. 24, 1968. Apollo 8 was his last close brush with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which brushed him off when he asked why the spacecraft was passing over China "two or three times" on its return flight.

"I was told in effect to shut up," Mr. Wallace says. He later learned that what was then "Red China" was on the receiving end of top-secret satellite surveillance.

A special program dedicated to Wallace will be broadcast on "60 Minutes" next Sunday, April 15.

garyd2831
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From: Syracuse, New York, USA
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posted 04-08-2012 02:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for garyd2831   Click Here to Email garyd2831     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Another great now in the heavens.

mach3valkyrie
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posted 04-08-2012 02:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mach3valkyrie   Click Here to Email mach3valkyrie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mr. Wallace was a CBS fixture during the Gemini Program as part of Walter Cronkite's space team. A great interviewer. RIP.

Fezman92
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posted 04-08-2012 03:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fezman92   Click Here to Email Fezman92     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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GACspaceguy
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posted 04-08-2012 03:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GACspaceguy   Click Here to Email GACspaceguy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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randy
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posted 04-08-2012 03:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for randy   Click Here to Email randy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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canyon42
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posted 04-08-2012 03:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for canyon42   Click Here to Email canyon42     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm a little confused by the reference to Apollo 8 passing over China multiple times on its "return flight." Is something garbled there, or am I just misunderstanding?

micropooz
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From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 04-08-2012 06:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you! I was wondering the same thing.

Obviously Apollo 8 would be over Red China a couple or three times on its return from the Moon, but that's just an artifact of orbital mechanics (and at distances of tens or hundreds of thousands of miles above the Earth, where the crew couldn't see much in Red China if they tried). Am I missing something here, or was Mike Wallace just trying to stir up controversy where it never existed?

MarylandSpace
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posted 04-08-2012 07:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MarylandSpace   Click Here to Email MarylandSpace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have some Mike Wallace early space stuff on VHS. I always enjoyed his style and his voice.

Jay Chladek
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posted 04-08-2012 10:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jay Chladek   Click Here to Email Jay Chladek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Sounds to me like it is two stories that have been combined inadvertently in the quotes. I believe Mike was probably referring to another space launch and not Apollo 8 itself.

Only other thing I can think of would be Mike trying to bait somebody at NASA into letting something slip about the satellite overflights by interjecting something into a seemingly completely unrelated topic (a tactic you might see a lawyer use in a courtroom). By flustering that person, sometimes information can slip out. Of course, given the surveillance satellites were more a USAF and NRO matter (NRO being highly classified back then), only a very few individuals at NASA would have had a "need to know" about those activities.

Joe Frasketi
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posted 04-08-2012 10:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Joe Frasketi   Click Here to Email Joe Frasketi     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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dss65
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posted 04-09-2012 09:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dss65   Click Here to Email dss65     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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DChudwin
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posted 04-09-2012 09:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DChudwin   Click Here to Email DChudwin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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capoetc
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posted 04-10-2012 11:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for capoetc   Click Here to Email capoetc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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jasonelam
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posted 04-10-2012 12:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jasonelam   Click Here to Email jasonelam     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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LM1
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posted 04-10-2012 01:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM1   Click Here to Email LM1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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Glint
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posted 04-10-2012 04:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Glint   Click Here to Email Glint     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
...Mr. Wallace says he "covered a lot of space" for CBS News until 60 Minutes was launched on Sept. 24, 1968. Apollo 8 was his last close brush with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which brushed him off when he asked why the spacecraft was passing over China "two or three times" on its return flight...
Wouldn't that be due to the natural motion of the Earth as it rotated below the returning spacecraft? Perhaps it's good he moved on to cover 60 Minutes instead.

That said, his son continues in the familily tradition of great journalism over at FOX News Channel.

R.I.P. Mike Wallace.

Gilbert
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posted 04-10-2012 05:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gilbert   Click Here to Email Gilbert     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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Henke71
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posted 04-10-2012 06:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Henke71   Click Here to Email Henke71     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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ea757grrl
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posted 04-10-2012 09:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ea757grrl   Click Here to Email ea757grrl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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