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Author
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Topic: Phil Shaffer Passing
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Sy Liebergot
Member Posts: 501
From: Pearland, Texas USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 06-14-2007 10:46 AM
   
Sadly, we've lost another of us Apollo era ops guys: Phil Shaffer passed away this morning at 3am. He died of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease...This disease is a brain-eater. Mad cow disease, or the human variant of it, Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, is a prion disease. Phil was a FDO and Flight Director. Sy Liebergot
"Apollo EECOM: Journey of A Lifetime" www.apolloeecom.com A moment of silence is signified by an entry with no words and only a period. |
Naraht
Member Posts: 232
From: Oxford, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 06-14-2007 10:56 AM
I'm very sorry to hear this news. RIP. |
Joe Holloway
Member Posts: 74
From: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted 06-14-2007 11:23 AM
Mr. Liebergot,Once again, please accept my condolences on the loss of one of your friends and co-workers. He is most certainly in a better place now. For those of us who grew up watching and listening to the manned launch broadcasts, we may remember the following quote by your commentator in MCC: "Standing by for go/no go for passage over Europe from Flight Director Phil Shaffer...given a go for passage over Europe." THAT's how I remember his name. Sincerely,
Joe Holloway
Knoxville, Tennessee
Edited by Joe Holloway |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2121
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 06-14-2007 11:31 AM
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Naraht
Member Posts: 232
From: Oxford, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 06-14-2007 11:37 AM
For those who are interested in reading more about Phil Shaffer:NASA Biographical Data Sheet Oral Histories He was also profiled in a very interesting article titled "The Men Who Control Our Missions to the Moon," which was in the Saturday Evening Post, December 28, 1968/January 11, 1969.
Edited by Naraht |
kr4mula
Member Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 06-14-2007 01:54 PM
I am truly sorry to hear of Phil's passing. My sincere condolences to his family and his bigger NASA family. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times at JSC events and had the distinct pleasure of sitting in on his JSC oral history interview (cited above). I remember him vividly for his wry sense of humor, especially once the recorder was turned off. A sample from the interview:***
I said, in the vernacular, "What the hell is a flight dynamics officer?"
He says, "I don't know, but they're hiring them."
*** Indeed. Sy - I was really surprised to hear what you said he died of. This is personally close to me because doctors strongly suspect one of my wife's aunts has the same thing.
My wife (who is a physician herself) mentioned that the symptoms often persist for years (I didn't see any around that interview), it's exceedingly rare in the US, and is only positively diagnosed via autopsy. Kevin |
Sy Liebergot
Member Posts: 501
From: Pearland, Texas USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 06-14-2007 02:37 PM
Kevin, et al, thank you all for the kind words.This is what Gene Kranz sent this morning:
quote:
Hi Gang,
Sad news. Bob Reggelbrugge just called and said that Phil Shaffer passed away this morning at 3am. He died of Jacobs-Crutchfield disease.... Bob said that he was OK a month ago when they went out to dinner, then had a sudden onset in the last 30 days. No data on servicers etc., but the family said that they might have a get together of friends later.
Cheers
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mdmyer
Member Posts: 900
From: Humboldt KS USA
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted 06-14-2007 03:06 PM
Sorry to hear about the loss. This is why we need people like Sy to tell the stories of these people. Listening to Sy Saturday evening you could feel his passion for the history of our early space efforts. Mike Myer |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-14-2007 03:54 PM
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Jake
Member Posts: 464
From: Issaquah, WA U.S.A.
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 06-14-2007 05:30 PM
.------------------
Jake Schultz - curator,
Newport Way Air Museum (OK, it's just my home) |
E2M Lem Man
Member Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 06-14-2007 07:08 PM
Ad Astra |
Rob Joyner
Member Posts: 1308
From: GA, USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 06-14-2007 08:23 PM
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SpaceCat
Member Posts: 151
From: Florida, US
Registered: May 2006
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posted 06-14-2007 08:46 PM
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413 is in
Member Posts: 628
From: Alexandria, VA USA
Registered: May 2006
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posted 06-14-2007 09:07 PM
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ea757grrl
Member Posts: 729
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 06-14-2007 09:56 PM
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kyra
Member Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 06-14-2007 10:17 PM
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Spoon
Member Posts: 143
From: Cumbria, UK
Registered: May 2006
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posted 06-15-2007 05:40 AM
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Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 06-15-2007 06:31 AM
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tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 06-15-2007 11:53 AM
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DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 06-15-2007 01:05 PM
Phil was a huge help to us while we were working on Homesteading Space, and gave us incredible insight to what was going on in Mission Control during the Skylab missions. I had only limited interaction with him personally, but he made a huge contribution to the book.Sad news, indeed. ------------------
All These Worlds Space Blog | Hatbag.net
"America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow." - Commander Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 Mission, 11 December 1972 |
randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-15-2007 01:43 PM
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