Posts: 6443
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 11-10-2026 11:56 AM               

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The story goes John Young didn't get the usual officer promotion in rank due to this stunt?

Remember when "Mercury 7" astronaut Gus Grissom was asked by the press what the difference was between astronauts and cosmonauts, Grissom answered "they got promoted!" From then onwards, as requested by the President of the United States, the US military introduced the "post-flight officer rank bump," giving rookie astronauts an immediate promotion in rank.