posted 05-20-2004 11:37 AM            

I'm doing some research into the life of Apollo 7 astronaut Donn Eisele right now, and have discovered that, some time inbetween January 1986 and March 1987, he wrote a fairly comprehensive op-ed article for an English newspaper on the Challenger disaster, and parallels to Apollo 1.

I have not been able to narrow down the details any more than that, and was hoping that someone might either:

a) Recall which newspaper the article appeared in, or:

b) Even have a copy cut out and stashed away somewhere.

I'd be most grateful for any help,

Thanks,

posted 05-20-2004 11:55 AM            

If its UK papers then those most likely to carry this would have been one of the broadsheets (Guardian ,Observer,Telegraph) or if one of the popular dailies then probably the Express or maybe Mail.

It could even have been one of the large circulation London dailies?

Most of these are online and have article search facilities

posted 05-20-2004 03:51 PM            

Thank you so much for looking for me! Sorry it didn't show up. It may have been published sometime in the January-March '87 timeframe too, if you have clippings from then as well.

Thanks,

posted 05-25-2004 09:43 PM            

Your comment on Eisele being the least well-known is indeed exactly why I am conducting a good deal of research on him right now. And indeed the resulting work is designed to correct that - the work so far has revealed a fascinating story. It certainly is not just you - very few people know about him, even his fellow astronauts.

After leaving NASA he very much dropped off the public radar, by his own choice. One of the very few exceptions is this piece he wrote sometime after the Challenger disaster for an English newspaper - an opinion column. In fact, I have been able to narrow it down further - must have been published between 28 January and 24 March 1986 - less than two months. That might greatly help someone looking for it.

I am now based in San Diego and don't have access, as you do, to the UK libraries. If you or anyone else in the UK felt like doing a bit of enterprising research to try and uncover this article, I'd certainly be eternally grateful! I am sure I could do something in return to make it worth your while. The only online check I could make for UK national papers was with the Times, and the only article they had listed for him in 1986-87 was his obituary. So I think we can rule out that paper. That leaves the others...

Thanks,

posted 05-27-2004 05:04 PM               

Certainly sounds like a well overdue project; thinking about it, I think the only picture I've ever seen of Donn is the official NASA Apollo 7 potrait. I'd definitely like to help, although will be out of the loop for 2 weeks as am about to nip off for a fortnight's SCUBA diving in Spain. I'll check this page again in a couple of weeks to see if any progress has been made; otherwise, it's off to the library!!

Cheers,

posted 05-27-2004 05:47 PM            

All the best,

posted 07-03-2004 02:33 PM               

Sorry, been a bit busy since returning from Spain - do you stll want me to research the Donn Eisele article for you?

Cheers,

posted 07-10-2004 02:06 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by trajan:
Hi Francis,

Sorry, been a bit busy since returning from Spain - do you stll want me to research the Donn Eisele article for you?

Cheers,

Jason

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Just back from a bit of diving myself - in my case, Kauai. Yes, if you are still willing to do so and not too much trouble, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks,