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Astronauts aboard IKE for special event

M

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
Astronauts? Here? HOLY S!&@T

Today, in an unexpected USO tour, I got to meet one of my childhood heroes.

Neil Armstrong. As in the first man on the moon.

Also travelling with him were the following aviation legends:
Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon. Another Naval Aviator
Jim Lovell, the man who Tom Hanks played in the movie Apollo 13
General Steve Ritchie, the last USAF Fighter Ace (5 MiG-21 kills in Vietnam flying F-4s)
Bob Gilliand, the SR-71 Blackbird/A-12 Oxcart test pilot. Has more time above Mach 2 than any other person in the world.

There was a nice "for the troops" in the hangar bay, and then we had a more or less private group for all the pilots in CVIC. The former astronauts were VERY frank about how the space program is being mismanaged, and is not going towards a goal, and how we, as a nation need a goal, and that some other members of our generation need to stop being such pussies.

Oh, and the look on Gene Cernan's face when someone asked about Buzz Aldrin being on "Dancing with the Stars" was EPIC.

If only we could have had that same meeting a the O-Club or any other aviation bar in the world.. Holyfuckingshit.

Pictures to follow when I get a chance to upload them.
 
Vas Deferens

Vas Deferens

SNA
Thats unbelievably awesome. I cannot imagine meeting that many of my heros at the same time and place. Another reason to be part of Naval Aviation.
 
Annalisa

Annalisa

Semper Fidelis Tyrannosaurus
See the lizard in my avatar? That's how green with envy I am. Can't wait to see the pictures.
 
blackbart22

blackbart22

Well-Known Member
pilot
I'd made a fuel stop at Navy Dallas on the way home on a syllabus cross country. I was waiting for the fuel truck while my student filed the flight plan, when a NASA T-38 pulled in beside my grubby TF-9. As the fuel trick pulled up the pilot climbed out, looked at my name tag and said, " you don't mind if I take your fuel truck, do you Lieutenant? There another one on the way." I looked at his name tag and said "No sir, Colonel, be my guest." The name on the tag was Borman.
 
BACONATOR

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Definitely jealous.... having a VIP crew like that must have really put the COD pilots on edge.... ;)
 
Pugs

Pugs

Back from the range
None
Got lucky and took a Prowler to Oshkosh in 95 and since they didn't have gov't fuel got a bag full at Scott on the way. We're standing around and a NASA T-38 pulls in and Hoot Gibson gets out. Comes right over and introduces himself to a bunch of Lt's (He didn't take our gas ;) ) Heck a nice guy.

I've dead envious of the group you go to meet though and look forward to the pics.
 
Boomhower

Boomhower

Shoot, man, it's that dang ol' internet
None
I thought Armstrong was taking the J.D. Salinger approach to public life. This is one of the very few public appearances I've heard of him making. That is incredible, Master. I, too, am envious.
 
Birdog8585

Birdog8585

Milk and Honey
pilot
Contributor
blackbart22 said:
I'd made a fuel stop at Navy Dallas on the way home on a syllabus cross country. I was waiting for the fuel truck while my student filed the flight plan, when a NASA T-38 pulled in beside my grubby TF-9. As the fuel trick pulled up the pilot climbed out, looked at my name tag and said, " you don't mind if I take your fuel truck, do you Lieutenant? There another one on the way." I looked at his name tag and said "No sir, Colonel, be my guest." The name on the tag was Borman.
Click to expand...

That must have been cool as hell. We need - as a country - more guys like Col. Borman brought into the limelight/forefront for kids to look up to. Unfortunately the mentally paraphrased definition of 'hero' has become muddled over the years.
 
Annalisa

Annalisa

Semper Fidelis Tyrannosaurus
Saw a brief piece on the astronaut visit on Navy.mil: Astronaut Legend Receives Naval Astronaut Wings Aboard 'Ike.'

This is unrelated to the content of the article, but I'm afraid I cannot stifle my inner pedant. Holy grammar issues, Batman! Did anyone proofread the article before it was released into the wild? Some sentences are missing key punctuation (unless kids these days have decided that ending a sentence with a period is too old-fashioned), while others appear to have been peppered with random commas. Were I the author, I would be embarrassed. I wouldn't think that the Navy as a whole would be thrilled to have writing like that represent the service on an official site, either.

</grammar nazi threadjack>

I'll... just go back to my curmudgeonly corner and bemoan the fate of the English language elsewhere, shall I? :p
 
FlyinRock

FlyinRock

Registered User
Yes please do? The last astrounaut I had the pleasure of spending time with was Walt Cunningham. He was here in Mobile as guest speaker at the USMC ball. He and I had a history that went back to about 1963 in MCAS Yuma and I had some pics I took that he hadn't seen. It was a great time and my wife still says he was/is a good dancer.
Semper fi
Rocky
USMC and unrepentant
 
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