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I grew up next to mission control and many of my neighbors and friends' parents were involved in Mission Control and/or Astronauts or both. Oddly, in the middle
by kumarski 10y ago
I grew up next to mission control and many of my neighbors and friends' parents were involved in Mission Control and/or Astronauts or both. Oddly, in the middle of nowhere Texas - Clear Lake. This gave me some interesting run-ins with cosmonauts, astronauts, physicists etc...
I was lucky enough to meet John Glenn on 3 separate occasions.
The first time, I discussed Plutonium 238 and my worries for satellite power given decommissioning of mission critical battery fodder for satellites on earth.
The second time, the viability of a colorblind astronaut.(I have deuteranopia and he explained to me the structure of the consoles and the switching costs of changing out colors and the follow on risk/reward of color confusion).
The third time, how we could keep more funding for NASA scale projects without having to keep offices in 50 different states for political pressure. He said he could go on for hours about this.
All 3 times, he was sharp, inspiring, and a pleasure to be around.
Today, humanity has lost the Lee Iacocca of Space.
One of my favorite quotes by him that I think is incredibly relevant right now:
"The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel."
- butter_NUT 10y agoMan, in what world is Clear Lake TX out in the middle of nowhere??
- tossaway1 10y agoDid you create an account just to make this comment???
- thechao 10y agoIn the '90s it was ... sort of out there. Especially getting all the way down NASA Rd1---it was at least 20 minutes combined getting down 45 and out to JSC. A lot of the astronauts lived in El Lago, Seabrook, etc., which definitely were way out there.
- _JamesA_ 10y agoIf only it took 20 minutes now. I used to visit JSC several times a year in the 80's and 90's ... until they locked it down and opened Space Center Houston. It never seemed that far 'out there' coming from the north side outer loop (610) compared to The Woodlands. OT but it was a pleasure to be able to park and roam the campus and enter most buildings (including Mission Control) on a self guided tour. Space Center Houston is terrible in comparison.
- thechao 10y agoAs kids we used to entertain ourselves on the JSC campus---they had the best junk: old shuttle parts, broken satellite antennas, x-plane canopies; you name it! I liked being able to roam around and just check out old mercury modules, etc. I know that this stuff needs to be maintained; thus, the ostensible reason for Space Center; but, that curated faux experience is not the NASA which inspired me.
- hackuser 10y ago> humanity has lost the Lee Iacocca of Space Perhaps you could explain the comparison to a somewhat famous car company executive ...
- kumarski 10y agoJohn Glenn was an engineer. Lee Iacocca was an engineer. Elon Musk is not an engineer.
- theoh 10y agoYet, "In order to be an engineer, it is not enough to be an engineer." Jose Ortega y Gasset. No profession has a monopoly on competence.
- kumarski 10y agoHe made a monstrously inaccurate statement about the area of a solar panel and the power output of an area equivalent with the surface area of a nuclear power plant. I thought he was well versed in how utilities and energy work, but this made me see him in a different light. https://youtu.be/UKT2tKmVk6g?t=16m52s https://youtu.be/UKT2tKmVk6g?t=16m52s I at one time thought Elon Musk was monstrously good engineer, but I found out he was a physicist recently.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- d_e_solomon 10y ago> but I found out he was a physicist recently The horror.
- kumarski 10y agoI get upvoted for being an engineer, but downvoted for pointing out an actual inaccuracy. Go figure.
- syngrog66 10y agoif I could give more upvotes, I would. I'm also prepared to take the pain of infinite downvotes for this "non-ideal" comment of mine. thank you for this.