Armstrong lauds another spaceman

Neil Armstrong, in a very rare public appearance, said the following
at a
recent "Star Trek" fete honoring Jimmy "Scotty" Doohan...

"This evening is really an honor for me," Armstrong began. "It reminds
me that I am indeed remarkably fortunate. I have ridden on 13
different rocket engines, and had the privilege of commanding three
different types of spacecraft, traveling as fast as 25,000 miles an
hour. Candidly, and unfortunately, all of those were primitive -- none
of them had warp drive. The Enterprise was about 100,000 times as fast
as anything I ever flew. Our crafts did not even have the ability to
leave our solar system. Lucky for those Klingons!

"Not having a transporter was a significant disadvantage. The method
we used to descend from orbit to the surface of an alien world, uhh,
worked," the astronaut continued to the crowd's laughter, "but it
would've been far more efficient and far less traumatic if we could
just be beamed down. I'm hoping for my next command, to be given a
Federation starship. When I get that command, I would like to have a
crew like Captain James T. Kirk had: Spock, Chekov and Uhura, Dr.
McCoy, Sulu, and the others we all remember.

"Now, I have a confession to make. I am an engineer. And if I get that
command, I want a Chief Engineering officer like--" he took on a
Scottish lilt-- "Montgomery Scott. Because I know Scotty will get the
job done, and do it right. Even if I often hear him say, 'But
Caeptain, I dunna have enough time!' So from one old engineer to
another, thanks Scotty."

In article ,
says...
Neil Armstrong [...] said:
I have ridden on 13 different rocket engines

I can't match that number:

by type:
X-1b
X-15
Titan-II first stage
Titan-II second stage
Agena (well, it was planned....)
S-IC
S-II
S-IVB (I'm being generous, both S-II and S-IVB used J-2s)
Apollo SPS
LM Descent
LM Assent
That's 11.

By number:
1 X-1b
1 X-15
2 Titan II first stage
2 Titan II second stage
5 F-1s
5 J-2s
1 J-2
1 SPS
1 LM Descent
1 LM Ascent
That sum is too high even counting just the moon flight.

Assuming Armstrong is correct [sic!], what am I missing?



and had the privilege of commanding three
different types of spacecraft,

Why not count the X-15? (Yes, Armstrong never took it to 100 km, but it
could reach space.)
--
Kevin Willoughby lid

Imagine that, a FROG ON-OFF switch, hardly the work
for test pilots. -- Mike Collins

Neil Armstrong [...] said:
I have ridden on 13 different rocket engines

I can't match that number:

by type:
X-1b
X-15
Titan-II first stage
Titan-II second stage
Agena (well, it was planned....)
S-IC
S-II
S-IVB (I'm being generous, both S-II and S-IVB used J-2s)
Apollo SPS
LM Descent
LM Assent
That's 11.

By number:
1 X-1b
1 X-15
2 Titan II first stage
2 Titan II second stage
5 F-1s
5 J-2s
1 J-2
1 SPS
1 LM Descent
1 LM Ascent
That sum is too high even counting just the moon flight.

Assuming Armstrong is correct [sic!], what am I missing?

What about that lunar lander trainer vehicle that almost killed him? I
believe that it had two different engine systems installed.

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 13:22:13 -0500, Kevin Willoughby
wrote:

In article ,
says...
Neil Armstrong [...] said:
I have ridden on 13 different rocket engines

I can't match that number:

by type:
X-1b
X-15
Titan-II first stage
Titan-II second stage
Agena (well, it was planned....)
S-IC
S-II
S-IVB (I'm being generous, both S-II and S-IVB used J-2s)
Apollo SPS
LM Descent
LM Assent
That's 11.

By number:
1 X-1b
1 X-15
2 Titan II first stage
2 Titan II second stage
5 F-1s
5 J-2s
1 J-2
1 SPS
1 LM Descent
1 LM Ascent
That sum is too high even counting just the moon flight.

Assuming Armstrong is correct [sic!], what am I missing?



and had the privilege of commanding three
different types of spacecraft,

Why not count the X-15? (Yes, Armstrong never took it to 100 km, but it
could reach space.)


Gemini OAMS?

Apollo CM & LM RCS?

LLRV had small rocket engines.

The rocket in the ejection seat when he
ejected from the LLRV.

- Rusty Barton

"Rusty Barton" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 13:22:13 -0500, Kevin Willoughby
wrote:

In article ,
says...
Neil Armstrong [...] said:
I have ridden on 13 different rocket engines

I can't match that number:

by type:
X-1b
X-15
Titan-II first stage
Titan-II second stage
Agena (well, it was planned....)
S-IC
S-II
S-IVB (I'm being generous, both S-II and S-IVB used J-2s)
Apollo SPS
LM Descent
LM Assent
That's 11.

By number:
1 X-1b
1 X-15
2 Titan II first stage
2 Titan II second stage
5 F-1s
5 J-2s
1 J-2
1 SPS
1 LM Descent
1 LM Ascent
That sum is too high even counting just the moon flight.

Assuming Armstrong is correct [sic!], what am I missing?



and had the privilege of commanding three
different types of spacecraft,

Why not count the X-15? (Yes, Armstrong never took it to 100 km, but it
could reach space.)


Gemini OAMS?

Apollo CM & LM RCS?

LLRV had small rocket engines.

The rocket in the ejection seat when he
ejected from the LLRV.

- Rusty Barton

Too bad the DynaSoar was never finished .. he would have that one on the
list !

gb

In article ,
says...
Too bad the DynaSoar was never finished .. he would have that one on the
list !

If X-20 had flown, we might not remember Armstrong today. If he stayed
with DynaSoar, he would have missed Gemini-8, so wouldn't have been
assigned to an early Apollo lunar mission.
--
Kevin Willoughby lid

Imagine that, a FROG ON-OFF switch, hardly the work
for test pilots. -- Mike Collins

Kevin Willoughby wrote in message ...
By number:
1 X-1b
1 X-15
2 Titan II first stage
2 Titan II second stage
5 F-1s
5 J-2s
1 J-2
1 SPS
1 LM Descent
1 LM Ascent
That sum is too high even counting just the moon flight.

Assuming Armstrong is correct [sic!], what am I missing?

You are counting the rocket sleds in training, right?

Kevin Willoughby wrote:

In article ,
says...

Neil Armstrong [...] said:
I have ridden on 13 different rocket engines


I can't match that number:

by type:
X-1b
X-15
Titan-II first stage
Titan-II second stage
Agena (well, it was planned....)
S-IC
S-II
S-IVB (I'm being generous, both S-II and S-IVB used J-2s)
Apollo SPS
LM Descent
LM Assent
That's 11.

By number:
1 X-1b
1 X-15
2 Titan II first stage
2 Titan II second stage
5 F-1s
5 J-2s
1 J-2
1 SPS
1 LM Descent
1 LM Ascent
That sum is too high even counting just the moon flight.

Assuming Armstrong is correct [sic!], what am I missing?




and had the privilege of commanding three
different types of spacecraft,


Why not count the X-15? (Yes, Armstrong never took it to 100 km, but it
could reach space.)
I'm embarrassed to say that the title of the thread made me think of
*Lance* Armstrong, the bicyclist. It's really a shame how the early
astronauts have disappeared from the scene.

Georgiana Gates wrote in message news:413b8af9$0$444

I'm embarrassed to say that the title of the thread made me think of
*Lance* Armstrong, the bicyclist. It's really a shame how the early
astronauts have disappeared from the scene.



I agree but lately Neil seems to be more in the public eye. He's
finally agreed to a book and there will be a movie about him. It seems
like he's been more available lately. If only the general public
better understood Apollo's accomplishments...

Gene DiGennaro
Baltimore,Md.

In article ,
Gene DiGennaro wrote:
...If only the general public better understood Apollo's accomplishments...

Wouldn't really make a lot of difference. The general public already
thinks spaceflight is neat; they just don't think it's worth a whole lot
of money. This is fundamental, and will not change.

Turning the general populace into space enthusiasts *will not happen*, and
plans which assume that it will are pointless fantasies. The only way to
get to (say) Mars is to lower the cost to the point that overwhelming
public enthusiasm is not required.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |