Thursday
You know, being a test pilot isn't always the healthiest business in the world.
Alan B. Shepard, aviator and astronaut. I also rather like his terse message to Mission Control at the time of his flight in 1961: "Why don't you fix your little problems and light this candle".
I am sure he would be thrilled at the private sector space ventures that Dale has been tirelessly writing about lately.
He tragically died of leukemia at the age of (for someone so fit) only 74. One wonders if the radiation experienced on his Mercury spaceship and moon flights was responsible.
Posted by Freeman at May 11, 2006 08:27 PM
Freeman, it is possible. Shepard also suffered for much of the 60s from a terrible inner ear problem which grounded him while the Gemini flights went on, which must have been incredibly frustrating for such a flyer. But I just about recall as a toddler watching him hit those golf shots on the Moon.
I have just read Neal Thompson's biography of Shep, written in 2004, called Light this Candle. It portrays a complex, highly driven, hard, cocky and very brave man. I felt very sad when he died - he was the Mr Cool of space flight.
They must make 'em tough in New Hampshire, his home state.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at May 11, 2006 10:04 PM
Then again, considering the fitness of Rusty Schweikert and Buzz Aldrin whom I saw merely days ago, one might say the environment was good for them ;-)
I remember some of the Russians being amazed at the fitness of John Glenn at age 80 when he flew on the shuttle.
Most of the Apollo astronauts are still alive and well. We lost one through a motor cycle accident a few years ago though...
Posted by Dale Amon at May 11, 2006 10:25 PM
Did not Scott Crossfield, the first guy to break Mach 2, die the other day in a plane accident, at the age of 84?
Yeager is in his 80s and still has a pilot's licence. What a dude.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at May 11, 2006 10:30 PM
Ah, JP, thanks for the plug. Several other astronauts currently live in NH as well.
I'll note that my recent comments here about our Free State have enticed at least one reader to join the FSP in the last few weeks. For that, thanks, and I hope to see you here as soon as you can make it. For others interested in further inspection, the FSP's Porcupine Freedom Festival is once again happening this summer in Lancaster, NH. Details can be found at FSP's website(Link).
Posted by Mike Lorrey at May 11, 2006 10:31 PM
>Did not Scott Crossfield, the first guy to break Mach 2,
>die the other day in a plane accident, at the age of 84?
>Yeager is in his 80s and still has a pilot's licence. What
>a dude.
Yes. A lot of those guys are doing well. But it's not only them. One of the instructors at my gliding club turns 90 this year. He's just been talking the last few months about maybe selling his own glider (a Cirrus like this one: http://www.akmedlanky.cz/pics/cirrus3.jpg) at the end of this year.
A couple of years ago I was talking to an American pilot at Omarama. He was also near 90 and told me he comes to NZ every summer to fly gliders, and in our winter he lives in Alaska and flies his float plane to remote lakes to go fishing. Amazing!
Posted by Bruce Hoult at May 12, 2006 02:57 AM
If you can beat the odds of surviving test pilot work, you should live a long time.
And yes, it's amazing what some older types do.
Posted by M. Thompson at May 12, 2006 04:55 PM
It's probably preaching to the choir here, but if you haven't you really should read or rent the DVD of The Right Stuff. Or hell, do both. The movie is quite a bit more entertaining after reading Tom Wolfe's book.
Posted by Hank Scorpio at May 12, 2006 11:39 PM
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