Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents
  collectSPACE: Messages
  Space Explorers & Workers
  Naming of Shorty crater

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Naming of Shorty crater
moorouge
Member

Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009

posted 10-26-2010 06:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for moorouge   Click Here to Email moorouge     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
At the time of the Apollo 17 mission it was widely reported in the news media that Shorty Crater (of orange soil fame) was named after 'Shorty' Powers, the voice of Mission Control in the days of the Mercury programme.

At the back of my mind is a feeling that I've read somewhere that this is not the case. Is this correct? If so, why was it so widely incorrectly reported at the time?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-26-2010 06:36 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From "Shoemaker by Levy: The Man Who Made an Impact" by David H. Levy:
Jack Schmitt proposed several names for the craters that he and Gene Cernan explored. Schmitt had named Shorty for a character ("Shorty" because he had lost his legs) in Richard Brautigan's "Trout Fishing in America" though some mistakenly thought it was named for Shorty Powers, whose famous voice counted down the minutes and seconds to the Project Mercury launches.

moorouge
Member

Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009

posted 10-26-2010 08:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for moorouge   Click Here to Email moorouge     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
...though some mistakenly thought it was named for Shorty Powers, whose famous voice counted down the minutes and seconds to the Project Mercury launches.
Thanks Robert. You are right, it comes back to me now.

Just one minor point. It wasn't 'some' who mistakenly thought it was named after Powers. At the time, you'd have been very hard pressed to find anyone in the media who thought otherwise.

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a



advertisement