Debbie Reynolds and Space History

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen anyone talking about her connection with space history. Now I have not been looking very hard, so probably there are people who have discussed it and I just missed it. Everyone talks about her daughter's sci fi space fame, but I'm amazed that no one I've seen paying tribute to Debbie's life has connected that to her own direct significant influence on NASA.

Instead of me jumping into it, I'll invite someone else here to explain it, as I'm sure the story is well known to everyone who has followed NASA closely.

Ideally, Scott would pipe in here to tell this one.

Last month we lost three people who were influential to the space program. The stories of John Glenn and Carrie Fisher are very well covered. And this other story about Debbie should be included in her obit. At least an obit written by anyone who cares about space history.

~ CT

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

Jeff
--
All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone.
These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Jeff Findley writes:

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 3:36:16 PM UTC, Chris Jones wrote:
Jeff Findley writes:

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

You're calling that a connection to the space program? LOL.

Dean Markley writes:

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 3:36:16 PM UTC, Chris Jones wrote:
Jeff Findley writes:

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

You're calling that a connection to the space program? LOL.

I trust that's addressed to the original poster, not me. I was offering
a supposition as to what was meant; a very quick look at Ms. Reynold's
life turned up nothing better.

From Chris Jones :
Dean Markley writes:

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 3:36:16 PM UTC, Chris Jones wrote:
Jeff Findley writes:

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

You're calling that a connection to the space program? LOL.

I trust that's addressed to the original poster, not me. I was offering
a supposition as to what was meant; a very quick look at Ms. Reynold's
life turned up nothing better.


"Nothing better"? Are people in this forum really this eager to dismiss this topic as a "pretty thin connection", and scoffingly "LOL" at it? One operating premise is that people here share a common interest in space history, and I myself find the Debbie Reynolds angle to be a fascinating aspect of the full story.

A book can be written on this topic. Literally an entire book.
For anyone here who might actually be interested, this story could have a working title along the lines of...

vvvvv
Debbie Reynolds and NASA: The Unsinkably Charming Actress
And Her Connection to the Deaths of Gus Grissom Among Other Astronauts
^^^^^


A general attitude is that space history is a done deal. That you could take all the stories that have already been published about the period up through, say, the 1970s, and that you can place them all in a box and that is all that ever needs to be said about it. People act as though space historians have done a thoroughly adequate job, and that such a box of stories is, for all practical purposes, 100% complete.

I don't see it that way at all. I see space history, the body of effort up through now, published in books and magazines and movies and such, to be a total shambles. A travesty of errors and misinformation, when it comes to the big picture, let alone the finer points.

My own estimate on that box of stories is that it is only about 50% complete. In the rest of the story, Debbie Reynolds plays a fascinating role.

I would hope that at a minimum, members of this forum would at least be open to the possibility that a thread titled "Debbie Reynolds and Space History" might contain something that is non-trivial.

~ CT

On Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 1:26:35 AM UTC, Chris Jones wrote:
Dean Markley writes:

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 3:36:16 PM UTC, Chris Jones wrote:
Jeff Findley writes:

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

You're calling that a connection to the space program? LOL.

I trust that's addressed to the original poster, not me. I was offering
a supposition as to what was meant; a very quick look at Ms. Reynold's
life turned up nothing better.

Yes, you are correct. Sometimes it is difficult to attribute correctly from a small screen.

In article , says...

Jeff Findley writes:

In article ,
says...

Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

I forgot about that. Pretty thin connection though. Because of what
happened to his Mercury capsule, the name "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"
didn't go over very well with the people in charge of publicity within
NASA. It just served to remind the public that his Mercury capsule was
still at the bottom of the ocean.

Jeff
--
All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone.
These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 1/13/2017 5:06 PM, Jeff Findley wrote:
Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

I forgot about that. Pretty thin connection though. Because of what
happened to his Mercury capsule, the name "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"
didn't go over very well with the people in charge of publicity within
NASA. It just served to remind the public that his Mercury capsule was
still at the bottom of the ocean.

Jeff


The thesis that Debbie Reynolds played a significant role in space
history outside of her performing in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" just
does not hold water.

FWIW the popular 60's musical is about the irascible survivor of the
Titanic's maiden voyage, the nouveau riche Ms. Molly Brown.

Dave

From David Spain:
On 1/13/2017 5:06 PM, Jeff Findley wrote:
Since Debbie Reynolds died a couple of weeks ago, I have not seen
anyone talking about her connection with space history.

I personally have no idea what you're talking about. Please enlighten
us.

She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on Broadway. The play was
the inspiration for Gus Grissom calling Gemini 3 Molly Brown.

I forgot about that. Pretty thin connection though. Because of what
happened to his Mercury capsule, the name "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"
didn't go over very well with the people in charge of publicity within
NASA. It just served to remind the public that his Mercury capsule was
still at the bottom of the ocean.

The thesis that Debbie Reynolds played a significant role in space
history outside of her performing in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" just
does not hold water.

FWIW the popular 60's musical is about the irascible survivor of the
Titanic's maiden voyage, the nouveau riche Ms. Molly Brown.

This forum has been amazingly consistent in a lack of open-minded thinking. Without even hearing the thesis, it is rejected outright.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the tragedy that Frank Borman attributed to a 'failure of imagination'.

Here is the Wikipedia article on this subject:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failur...of_imagination

It mentions Apollo 1, the Titanic, and Pearl Harbor. I see all three of those events to be connected. And I maintain that the incendiary death of Gus's crew is inextricably tied to Debbie Reynolds.

That event happened 50 years ago this very minute.

~ CT