Young retiring

Anyone got any more info on John Youngs retirement other than what is in
todays Spaceport News ?

Adam

From Adam Bootle:
Anyone got any more info on John Youngs retirement other than what is in
todays Spaceport News ?

That word has been going around for some time now. And just about the
next most senior and most experienced pilot astronaut, though not
quite so long in tooth as John, told me that he will retire from NASA
very soon.


~ CT

From Adam Bootle:
Anyone got any more info on John Youngs retirement other than what
is in
todays Spaceport News ?


Tonight's retirement party for John Young at Space Center Houston was
an outstanding event. I had a wonderful talk with him and his crewmate
from Apollo 16, Charlie Duke (and they were both gracious enough to
pose for pictures with a family member of mine). Among the many big
players in attendance, I was glad to see Bill Muehlberger, the rock PI
for Apollo 16 and 17 (with a unique distinction of having a moonrock,
"Big Muley", named after him).

An outstanding highlight video of John Young's career was shown on the
big screen. From the podium, there was no shortage of lumps given for
the infamous John Young Memos. But that was more than countered when
George Abbey shared the story of how Bob Gilruth had directed George to
bring all of John Young's memos personally to his attention, saying
that, "He's the best engineer I've got." By that, Gilruth meant
throughout all of MSC.


Oh, by the way, at the head table seated at John's side was a
stunningly beautiful blonde woman who is half his age. Turns out that
she is a former Air Force pilot who was a member of the Thunderbirds.
The two of them met from her marrying one of Charlie Duke's sons (with
those two having met during Air Force pilot training).
Way to go out in style.


~ CT

From Adam Bootle:
Anyone got any more info on John Youngs retirement other than what
is in
todays Spaceport News ?


Tonight's retirement party for John Young at Space Center Houston was
an outstanding event. I had a wonderful talk with him and his crewmate
from Apollo 16, Charlie Duke (and they were both gracious enough to
pose for pictures with a family member of mine). Among the many big
players in attendance, I was glad to see Bill Muehlberger, the rock PI
for Apollo 16 and 17 (with a unique distinction of having a moonrock,
"Big Muley", named after him).

An outstanding highlight video of John Young's career was shown on the
big screen. From the podium, there was no shortage of lumps given for
the infamous John Young Memos. But that was more than countered when
George Abbey shared the story of how Bob Gilruth had directed George to
bring all of John Young's memos personally to his attention, saying
that, "He's the best engineer I've got." By that, Gilruth meant
throughout all of MSC.


Oh, by the way, at the head table seated at John's side was a
stunningly beautiful blonde woman who is half his age. Turns out that
she is a former Air Force pilot who was a member of the Thunderbirds.
The two of them met from her marrying one of Charlie Duke's sons (with
those two having met during Air Force pilot training).
Way to go out in style.


~ CT

Hey, CT, I had no idea you were so carnal! LMAO Seriously, good to
see you posting. Can't wait to hear more.

wrote:
Hey, CT, I had no idea you were so carnal! LMAO

I prefer to see it as an -appreciation for aesthetics- (whether that be
a gorgeously engineered aerospace vehicle or a human being with a
striking genetic blend, etc).

Seriously, good to
see you posting. Can't wait to hear more.

Well, let's see...

At the end, there was an announcement of a new award created in John
Young's honor. It was called the "Just Asking" award.

(This alludes to John's well established MO of stirring the pot
vigorously, and then to back off by saying in his southern drawl, I'm
"just asking".)

*

Also at the retirement ceremony, I was able to see the excellent
display that Space Center Houston has for Gus Grissom and his Liberty
Bell 7. LaDonna, I'm sure that you especially will be interested in
seeing this if you haven't already.

*

For anyone who is interested in going deeper into the significance of
last night's ceremony, we could go into other issues, particularly the
irony of Fred Gregory, as NASA Deputy Administrator, giving a speech
and lavishing John with NASA's top medal.

I can only guess at what was going through John's mind when he
approached the stage to receive that one!


~ CT