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Neil Armstrong has Died
In article 3f2f5290-e7be-4dba-ad7a-bc71944e8f86
@cf4g2000vbb.googlegroups.com, says... niel did a excellent job as a pilot and astronaut, but lacked the dynamic personality needed to help push for mars I bet nasa management later regreted their decision to choose him as first man on the moon......... You're an ass. Jeff -- "the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer |
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Neil Armstrong has Died
On Aug 25, 4:53*pm, Orval Fairbairn wrote:
I just got this from a friend: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...l-armstrong-di... t-82/ Condolences to his family and friends. Godspeed, Neil. Bob Clark |
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Neil Armstrong has Died
Hg wrote:
Nothing can top being the first man to walk on the Moon - so quitting being an astronaut would be the first thing I would have done as well. Neil knew spaceflight is dangerous. I remember him saying he thought the Eagle landing had more chance of crashing than landing safely. So, why take the risk on lesser missions? Several other space walking astronauts stayed in the program and ended up going up on the shuttle. For a lot of astrnauts once you have the space bug, the space bug has you back. It's like Gagarin - He went out in a blaze of glory on a training flight. If you're doing it for the fame, sure. I don't think they let people into the astronaut corps who they thought were doing it for the fame. There would have been competition among the astronauts for the first step but it was among people who were already astronauts who'd already flown in space. Stepping out of the spotlight... I'm not sure the reasons for that, I think he expected he'd be okay with the fame but when it actually happened he disliked it worse than Lindberg had. Some situations can be imagined and mentally simulated before they happen. Some can't. When your'e good at running such mental simulations, as all test pilots must be, you'll figure you can pull it off in other fields. But when he was actually a celebrity he clearly didn't like it. So he stayed private. He earned it as far as I'm concerned. He didn't step on the Moon by winning a lottery. He earned it the hard way. Look at how Buzz has done. He's (or was) a jet setting celebrity doing all sorts of beneficial tasks. The world's a better place for how Buzz uses (used) the celebrity he ended up enjoying. though he did return to the spotlight whenever he was needed, being part of the investigation panels for Apollo 13 and Challenger, for example. Exactly. When his celebrity could make a large difference in the space program, he used it that way very deliberately for what he thought was the good of the program. |
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Neil Armstrong has Died
On 29/08/2012 03:21, Doug Freyburger wrote:
Hg wrote: Nothing can top being the first man to walk on the Moon - so quitting being an astronaut would be the first thing I would have done as well. Neil knew spaceflight is dangerous. I remember him saying he thought the Eagle landing had more chance of crashing than landing safely. So, why take the risk on lesser missions? Several other space walking astronauts stayed in the program and ended up going up on the shuttle. For a lot of astrnauts once you have the space bug, the space bug has you back. It's like Gagarin - He went out in a blaze of glory on a training flight. If you're doing it for the fame, sure. I don't think they let people into the astronaut corps who they thought were doing it for the fame. There would have been competition among the astronauts for the first step but it was among people who were already astronauts who'd already flown in space. Stepping out of the spotlight... I'm not sure the reasons for that, I think he expected he'd be okay with the fame but when it actually happened he disliked it worse than Lindberg had. Some situations can be imagined and mentally simulated before they happen. Some can't. When your'e good at running such mental simulations, as all test pilots must be, you'll figure you can pull it off in other fields. But when he was actually a celebrity he clearly didn't like it. So he stayed private. He earned it as far as I'm concerned. He didn't step on the Moon by winning a lottery. He earned it the hard way. Look at how Buzz has done. He's (or was) a jet setting celebrity doing all sorts of beneficial tasks. The world's a better place for how Buzz uses (used) the celebrity he ended up enjoying. I guess Armstrong thought he could benefit society by being a teacher instead of going up in rockets all the time. I wonder how good of a teacher he was? Anyway, he clearly enjoyed teaching so IMO if you can do what you enjoy then you'll be happy. though he did return to the spotlight whenever he was needed, being part of the investigation panels for Apollo 13 and Challenger, for example. Exactly. When his celebrity could make a large difference in the space program, he used it that way very deliberately for what he thought was the good of the program. -- T |
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Neil Armstrong has Died
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Neil Armstrong has Died
In sci.space.history "Greg \(Strider\) Moore" wrote:
But, when push comes to shove, they were doing a job. It was a LOT of work. It wasn't just kick the tires, fire it up and fly off into wild blue sky. There was 1000s of hours of prep work. And as much as they enjoyed their job (and it's clear to me Neil enjoyed being a test pilot), it was a job. If Neil had been told, "Ok, you're flying Apollo 10 and NOT landing on the Moon" he would have done just as well. Was it really just a "job" for those guys? I've sometimes opined there are several levels of employment: Level 0: Unemployed Level 1: The job you have but hate because you have to eat Level 2: The career you enjoy, but you could see yourself doing something else Level 3: The way of life for which you happen to be paid and I have to wonder if they were more Level 3 types. rick jones -- A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail? |
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Neil Armstrong has Died
"Rick Jones" wrote in message ... In sci.space.history "Greg \(Strider\) Moore" wrote: But, when push comes to shove, they were doing a job. It was a LOT of work. It wasn't just kick the tires, fire it up and fly off into wild blue sky. There was 1000s of hours of prep work. And as much as they enjoyed their job (and it's clear to me Neil enjoyed being a test pilot), it was a job. If Neil had been told, "Ok, you're flying Apollo 10 and NOT landing on the Moon" he would have done just as well. Was it really just a "job" for those guys? I've sometimes opined there are several levels of employment: Level 0: Unemployed Level 1: The job you have but hate because you have to eat Level 2: The career you enjoy, but you could see yourself doing something else Level 3: The way of life for which you happen to be paid and I have to wonder if they were more Level 3 types. Oh, I definitely think it's more Level 3. But, I guess it was more "He was a test-pilot cum astronaut who happened to land on the Moon" rather than "a guy who landed on the Moon who happened to be an astronaut". I have no doubt most if not all the astronauts wanted to land on the Moon, and ideally be first. But I also think a lot of outsides can't understand why folks like Mike Collins would give up being an astronaut and a shot at the Moon (which he pretty assuredly had). I don't think Mike ever had any real regrets about only orbiting. rick jones -- Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/ CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net |
#20
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Neil Armstrong has Died
Rick Jones wrote:
"Greg \(Strider\) Moore" wrote: But, when push comes to shove, they were doing a job. It was a LOT of work. It wasn't just kick the tires, fire it up and fly off into wild blue sky. There was 1000s of hours of prep work. And as much as they enjoyed their job (and it's clear to me Neil enjoyed being a test pilot), it was a job. If Neil had been told, "Ok, you're flying Apollo 10 and NOT landing on the Moon" he would have done just as well. Was it really just a "job" for those guys? I've sometimes opined there are several levels of employment: Level 0: Unemployed Level 1: The job you have but hate because you have to eat Level 2: The career you enjoy, but you could see yourself doing something else Level 3: The way of life for which you happen to be paid and I have to wonder if they were more Level 3 types. I figure at least in the US space program nearly all astronauts were well past level 3 on that scale. I've read the advice to people who want to be astronauts and it's more obsession than merely profession. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, like so many other kids. I was well into applying for an academy when I realized that I was not enough of a jock to make it into test pilot school after the academy and then I started wearing glasses as a high school senior. That was a definite wash for becoming an astronaut. So I turned my focus on unmanned space and ended up starting my career doing ground link software at JPL. I would have been around level 2.8 on that scale. A vast distance from being enough to become an astronaut. I do get why astronauts move on to other occupations. After 10+ years at JPL I had enough of "been there, done that, happy I did" that I didn't mind moving out into the commercial engineering and computing world for the better pay. Some astronauts will ask themselves - Will I ever get back into space if I stay an astronaut? Other astonauts will ask themselves - Will I ever get a space mission better than the one I just completed if I stay an astronaut? I get why several astronauts moved into politics, others became engineers, professors and whatever. There's deep satisfaction in having been there and done that even on the level I did. But there comes a point when you ask yourself the question of what's the next mission going to be. I love my 10 year pin but I also love that my salary almost doubled the day I moved out into commercial IT work. |
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