5 ms·

Astronaut John Young Has Died

126 points by NaOH 9y ago

ColinWright 9y ago
During the launch of the Apollo 16 mission, Charles Duke had a heartbeat of 144. It’s an absolutely natural response to the sensation of 7.5 million pounds of thrust lifting 95 tons into orbit. John Young was commander of the mission. His heart rate was 70. When asked about this he simply replied in an even voice: “Yeah, well mine was too old to go any faster.” The above is a quotation from https://medium.com/@room_n/john-young-the-astronaut-fe2c1076a986 https://medium.com/@room_n/john-young-the-astronaut-fe2c1076... which was submitted to HN some 9 months ago and got no attention. There have been a couple of other submissions[0] about Capt Young's passing, but I remember the way T.K.Mattingly, Tom Stafford, and Charlie Duke all spoke of him. They all considered him one of the best they'd ever worked or flown with. As Scott Kelly said: Fair winds and following seas, Captain.
- hcrisp 9y ago
  Another good quote by him from "In the Shadow of the Moon" (a quite amazing film/documentary of Apollo featuring interviews with the actual astronauts): [about driving the Lunar Rover] "What really saves you up there is there's nobody coming down the road from the other way."
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    Check the Corn Beef Sandwich scandal.
    - arunmib 9y ago
      When I first heard about it, thought the person was making stuff up. Then I got directed here - http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:01:52:26/#log-line-6746 http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:01:52:26/#log-line-6746. Also learnt that there was questioning about the incident by appropriations committee.
- hcrisp 9y ago
  I love his jump-salute photo in that article. I forgot he was the one who did that on the moon.
sizzzzlerz 9y ago
And then there were five. Moon walkers still living are Harrison Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, David Scott, and Charlie Duke. Is there any chance we'll have another person on the moon before these guys are gone. They're all in their 80's now.
- rainbowmverse 9y ago
  There are feats of engineering in orbit that make the Apollo program look like a bunch of rocks in slingshots. One of them has had humans on board for close to 20 years. I like to think people who've set foot on the moon are able to see all we've done in space, all we're doing, all we're about to do, and see the moon landings as just one small but significant thing in context of the beadth of human achievement.
  - ColinWright 9y ago
    The ones I've spoken to lament the fact that no one has gone beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. They yearn to go out, and to learn on longer missions the things that are currently being learned on the #ISS, and more. The ones I've spoken to think it's wrong that so much is being done within 400 km of the Earth's surface, when they went so much further. The ones I've spoken to acknowledge that the #ISS is a wonderful thing, and that excellent work is being done. But it's clear that they think there's more to do, and we're not doing it.
    - jacquesm 9y ago
      Who are the ones you've spoken to?
      - ColinWright 9y ago
        Moon-walkers: Alan Bean and Charlie Duke. Other Moon orbiters: Jim Lovell, Tom Stafford, Fred Haise, Al Worden, and Ken (TK) Mattingly. Of those, I've had an extensive conversation with TK, moderate conversation with Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, some conversation with Alan Bean, and listened to talks and Q'n'A sessions with all of them. Most were pretty moderate in the words they used, but in most cases you could hear between the spoken lines the frustration, and the yearning to see flights beyond LEO. In the longer, more personal conversations their feelings were obvious when the topic came up, supporting the impression obtained from the more moderate, public statements.
teddyh 9y ago
Obligatory xkcd: 65 years Number of living humans who have walked on another world https://xkcd.com/893/ https://xkcd.com/893/
- amself 9y ago
  Alt-text: The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision
LoungeFlyZ 9y ago
A good book that includes a lot about John is "Into the Black" about the shuttle program. He was commander of STS-1 and was heavily involved in the program.
dbcurtis 9y ago
I remember watching the STS-1 landing on TV. Young was supposed to stay inside for something like 45 minutes for overly-conservative safety reasons. He broke that rule, hard. He was out after after a few minutes, dancing around on the tarmac, fist-pumping the air (at the shuttle) out of sheer joy at having landed what he clearly thought was a wonderful flying machine. It was like watching a 5-year-old on Christmas morning. He loved his job.
- ShabbyDoo 9y ago
  I just watched a Youtube video of the STS-1 landing. He definitely was a happy guy, but it was nearly after landing until he finally exited the shuttle.
deepakb358 9y ago
Once I had the fortune to meet and be interviewed by John Young for a position. He was a pioneer in space travel and led humanity forward, yet he was most humble and self effacing in person. It has been many years, but that short period still stands out for his grace and kindness. May he rise in peace. And hope that humanity builds on his legacy to explore farther and faster.

126 points by NaOH 9y ago

During the launch of the Apollo 16 mission, Charles Duke had a heartbeat of 144. It’s an absolutely natural response to the sensation of 7.5 million pounds of thrust lifting 95 tons into orbit. John Young was commander of the mission. His heart rate was 70. When asked about this he simply replied in an even voice: “Yeah, well mine was too old to go any faster.” The above is a quotation from https://medium.com/@room_n/john-young-the-astronaut-fe2c1076a986 https://medium.com/@room_n/john-young-the-astronaut-fe2c1076... which was submitted to HN some 9 months ago and got no attention. There have been a couple of other submissions[0] about Capt Young's passing, but I remember the way T.K.Mattingly, Tom Stafford, and Charlie Duke all spoke of him. They all considered him one of the best they'd ever worked or flown with. As Scott Kelly said: Fair winds and following seas, Captain.

hcrisp 9y ago
Another good quote by him from "In the Shadow of the Moon" (a quite amazing film/documentary of Apollo featuring interviews with the actual astronauts): [about driving the Lunar Rover] "What really saves you up there is there's nobody coming down the road from the other way."
- jacquesm 9y ago
  Check the Corn Beef Sandwich scandal.
  - arunmib 9y ago
    When I first heard about it, thought the person was making stuff up. Then I got directed here - http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:01:52:26/#log-line-6746 http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:01:52:26/#log-line-6746. Also learnt that there was questioning about the incident by appropriations committee.
hcrisp 9y ago
I love his jump-salute photo in that article. I forgot he was the one who did that on the moon.

sizzzzlerz 9y ago

And then there were five. Moon walkers still living are Harrison Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, David Scott, and Charlie Duke. Is there any chance we'll have another person on the moon before these guys are gone. They're all in their 80's now.

rainbowmverse 9y ago
There are feats of engineering in orbit that make the Apollo program look like a bunch of rocks in slingshots. One of them has had humans on board for close to 20 years. I like to think people who've set foot on the moon are able to see all we've done in space, all we're doing, all we're about to do, and see the moon landings as just one small but significant thing in context of the beadth of human achievement.
- ColinWright 9y ago
  The ones I've spoken to lament the fact that no one has gone beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. They yearn to go out, and to learn on longer missions the things that are currently being learned on the #ISS, and more. The ones I've spoken to think it's wrong that so much is being done within 400 km of the Earth's surface, when they went so much further. The ones I've spoken to acknowledge that the #ISS is a wonderful thing, and that excellent work is being done. But it's clear that they think there's more to do, and we're not doing it.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    Who are the ones you've spoken to?
    - ColinWright 9y ago
      Moon-walkers: Alan Bean and Charlie Duke. Other Moon orbiters: Jim Lovell, Tom Stafford, Fred Haise, Al Worden, and Ken (TK) Mattingly. Of those, I've had an extensive conversation with TK, moderate conversation with Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, some conversation with Alan Bean, and listened to talks and Q'n'A sessions with all of them. Most were pretty moderate in the words they used, but in most cases you could hear between the spoken lines the frustration, and the yearning to see flights beyond LEO. In the longer, more personal conversations their feelings were obvious when the topic came up, supporting the impression obtained from the more moderate, public statements.

teddyh 9y ago

Obligatory xkcd: 65 years Number of living humans who have walked on another world https://xkcd.com/893/ https://xkcd.com/893/

amself 9y ago
Alt-text: The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision

LoungeFlyZ 9y ago

A good book that includes a lot about John is "Into the Black" about the shuttle program. He was commander of STS-1 and was heavily involved in the program.

dbcurtis 9y ago

I remember watching the STS-1 landing on TV. Young was supposed to stay inside for something like 45 minutes for overly-conservative safety reasons. He broke that rule, hard. He was out after after a few minutes, dancing around on the tarmac, fist-pumping the air (at the shuttle) out of sheer joy at having landed what he clearly thought was a wonderful flying machine. It was like watching a 5-year-old on Christmas morning. He loved his job.

ShabbyDoo 9y ago
I just watched a Youtube video of the STS-1 landing. He definitely was a happy guy, but it was nearly after landing until he finally exited the shuttle.

deepakb358 9y ago

Once I had the fortune to meet and be interviewed by John Young for a position. He was a pioneer in space travel and led humanity forward, yet he was most humble and self effacing in person. It has been many years, but that short period still stands out for his grace and kindness. May he rise in peace. And hope that humanity builds on his legacy to explore farther and faster.