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> Cernan speculated that the lander’s ascent module had been short-fueled on purpose: “A lot of people thought about the kind of people we were: ‘Don’t give tho
by carlosdp 7y ago
> Cernan speculated that the lander’s ascent module had been short-fueled on purpose: “A lot of people thought about the kind of people we were: ‘Don’t give those guys an opportunity to land, ‘cause they might!’”
I've always loved this anecdote. It really illustrates the adventurous attitude and boldness these astronauts. If they were fully fueled, there was a non-zero chance they would have just landed. What's Houston gunna do about it?
- saagarjha 7y ago> What's Houston gunna do about it? Preventing them from flying another mission, ever, presumably.
- p1mrx 7y agoThat's why you turn off the radio, land, take off again, and say something about technical difficulties.
- martalist 7y agoA small price to pay to be the first man on the moon.
- CalChris 7y agoThat would be Apollo 7 which had a near mutiny in space. None of the astronauts on that flight ever flew again. In their defense, they were dealing with motion sickness and a head cold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7
- ricree 7y agoSo far as I can tell, none of the Apollo 11 ever flew another mission, so it may well have been worth it. (Though the 10 astronauts all did at least one more, with two of the three eventually getting their turn on the moon)
- dotancohen 7y ago> the 10 astronauts To other readers: OP is talking about the astronauts of Apollo X, not a quantity of ten astronauts.
- toomanybeersies 7y agoNot the same as prematurely landing on the moon, but John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich aboard Gemini 3 [1]. He then proceeded to fly on another Gemini mission, 2 Apollo missions and 2 shuttle missions. [1] https://www.space.com/39341-john-young-smuggled-corned-beef-space.html https://www.space.com/39341-john-young-smuggled-corned-beef-...
- raverbashing 7y agoYou just landed on the moon, it's either a mission to Mars next or you just don't care anymore
- nabla9 7y agoAny real punishment after successful return would have been politically impossible. JFK would have called: "Give them written warning and yell at them, Then you bring them to DC. I have to shake their hand and we have to plan for celebration and other stuff."
- themodelplumber 7y agoI remember reading that NASA's psychological selection/screening process is top secret or something like that, but if you read between the lines and analyze the astronauts themselves, you quickly conclude that yes, if there is fuel and a giant unexplored opportunity nearby, don't get in their way. Not only are they adventurous, but they will push just about any boundary; that is their default setting. Sometimes there are "interesting" incidents where you get to see this psychology in weaponized form, like the Terminator-esque jilted astronaut lover story from back in 2007. I'm not surprised at all to hear that contingency means might be taken to limit related risks on space missions.
- staamen 7y agoWhat is the "Terminator-esque jilted astronaut lover story" you're referring to? That doesn't ring a bell but I would love to read more about it!
- alanh 7y agoThis is more or less exactly the scenario explored in this classic sketch comedy video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj3pJudQi7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj3pJudQi7A
- taneq 7y agoWasn't there some story about Chuck Yeager in a Bell X15 on his last flight just saying 'Screw it, what are they gonna do, fire me? I'm going to go to space today.' and taking it up as high as it would go?
- dotancohen 7y agoI'm not aware of that story, but there is much speculation about why Yeager was never selected for the astronaut corps. His biography (I haven't read it yet, it's second-to-next on my shelf) specifically mentions that Chuck "had the right stuff" which during the Mercury time was code word for "good enough to be an astronaut".
- lmm 7y agoI thought it was explicitly just that he didn't have a college degree? Or is there more to it than that?
- throwaway55554 7y ago> Q: Why didn't NASA ever select you to become an astronaut? A: They knew I didn't want to wipe the monkey crap off the seat before I sat down Edit: https://twitter.com/genchuckyeager/status/918320874947715074?lang=en https://twitter.com/genchuckyeager/status/918320874947715074...
- dotancohen 7y agoI'll know as soon as I finish the book!
- alistairSH 7y agoIn his own words: JC: Any regrets you were never selected by NASA as an astronaut? CY: In order to get into the space program, you had to have a degree. I only had a high school education. In the early Mercury program, everything was done from the Cape [Kennedy] anyway. The guys didn’t have a hell of a lot of control, and that to me isn’t flying. I wasn’t interested. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/01/23/chuck-yeager-who-tweets-says-sam-shepards-right-stuff-character-was-right-on/#e1b9c742874a https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/01/23/chuck-yeage...
- Luc 7y agoIt’s a joke.
- dmurray 7y agoThis would make for a great conspiracy theory, let's say in the alternative world where Apollo 11 had a catastrophic failure and the Apollo program was pushed back by years and eventually cancelled. "NASA did go to the moon in the 60s, but they covered it up!"
- pacificmint 7y ago> It really illustrates the adventurous attitude and boldness these astronauts. I remember reading something years ago along the lines that the astronauts they would select for a hypothetical mars mission would be a totally different type than the Apollo astronauts. The Apollo guys were more the cowboy and daredevil type, where for an 18 month space mission you’d need much more level head types. Not sure if that was a thing NASA had already planned for, but it always made sense to me.
- Sharlin 7y agoThe astronauts of the early programs were basically all picked from the military test pilot pool. Which was a natural fit given how everything related to spaceflight was new and experimental and ridiculously risky. They needed people who could stare death in the eye and live to tell the story. These days astronauts routinely spend months in space, and indeed their selection process and education requirements are rather different—as of course is the whole purpose and character of the manned spaceflight program. It should be said, though, that Neil was selected as the CDR of the first mission to land exactly because he was not a gung-ho type but instead extremely calm, collected, and not one to make a number of himself. Buzz, on the other hand, was and is a much more hot-blooded personality.
- arethuza 7y agoNeil also seemed to be a guy who really loved analysing and solving problems - as well as a total love of flying. Interesting interview with him from 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJzOIh2eHqQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJzOIh2eHqQ
- johnnycab 7y ago>The Apollo guys were more the cowboy and daredevil type, where for an 18 month space mission you’d need much more level head types. This was the premise of MARS-500 mission/experiment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARS-500 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARS-500