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Author
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Topic: Apollo 16's Charlie Duke: first twin in space
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-25-2015 11:35 AM
  
Charlie Duke has a twin brother. They look identical in this 1939 photo. |
star51L
Member Posts: 340
From: Vilano Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 01-25-2015 12:08 PM
Don't most twins look identical?  If I remember correctly, his twin brother Bill was in Mission Control during Apollo 16, causing some heads to turn. I think there is some video of it and I also recall Charlie Duke mentioning it in a documentary. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-25-2015 12:25 PM
Most fraternal twins look different. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-25-2015 12:36 PM
True, but Charlie and Bill are not fraternal twins; they are identical (monozygotic) twins. From Charlie's book "Moonwalker": On October 3, 1935, I was born first, and six minutes later emerged my identical twin brother, Bill. There's a reason though, why Bill didn't grow up to become an astronaut like his brother. As explained in a 2011 Psychology Today article: Why wasn't Bill buckled in along-side his brother? While it may be only part of the story, one physical difference between the twins had crucial consequences for their early development, twin relationship and professional goals: Bill was born with a heart defect. His shortness of breath and reduced exercise tolerance precluded his participation in active team sports. He also believes that his restricted physical activity and frequent medical visits explain his desire to become a physician. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-25-2015 02:15 PM
Perhaps being an identical twin had an influence on the pre-flight dream, which Charlie describes in his book, about he and John Young finding another LRV and "themselves" on the moon near North Ray Crater. |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 01-31-2015 06:15 PM
At page 151 of "Moonwalker", Duke recounts that the day before liftoff, Rocco Petrone (then head of the Apollo program) stumbled upon Bill Duke at the Holiday Inn in Cocoa Beach, thinking that Charlie had broken pre-flight quarantine! |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 02-01-2015 02:42 PM
This appears to be Duke's twin brother (and his father?) in Mission Control during Apollo 16. |
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