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Tonight is Yuri’s Night, and also the 25th anniversary of the first launch of the Space Shuttle, so permit me to wax a moment on space travel.
The Detroit Free Press has an article called "Five Things About Space Travel" which is interesting (though the part about Kevin Spacey was a reach). I was struck by the part about how many Michiganders have been to space. As a U of M alum myself, I thought it was amusing that they missed one: Karl Henize.
Well, maybe not really amusing, but more chagrinning since Karl was a professional astronomer, and not too many of those have been to space. When I was at Michigan, Karl came and gave a talk to the astronomy department. This was in late 1985 or so, so I don’t remember much of his talk except that he was funny, warm, and engaging (and also that he was missing a part of one finger and was color blind, which he made a point of because astronauts need not be the perfect physical specimens they once were required to be).
A month or two after he gave the talk, Challenger exploded during launch. I was walking back to my dorm from work, and saw people crowded around a TV at a video store. I asked what was going on, and someone said the Shuttle had "crashed". My knees went weak; I remember that clearly. I watched for as long as I could take it; it was pretty hard to get any schoolwork done for that day… so I wrote a note to Karl, telling him how sorry I was, knowing that he had ridden Challenger just a few months before. He sent me a nice, brief note back. I still have it.
Karl died in 1993, of respiratory and heart failure. This may be unremarkable, since he was 67 years old. Maybe that’s a bit young, but, after all, he was climbing Mt. Everest at the time. I can hardly walk up a flight of stairs on some days, and I’m relatively in shape. He was an amazing guy.
NASA’s heading back to the Moon now, and more of my alumni brethren and sistern will be going along for the ride, no doubt. Maybe a friend of mine might be going. I won’t go; I like it here. I want to be on the Moon, but I don’t want to go there. No way will I strap a rocket onto my backside, but I’m glad others are willing to do it. I’m glad Karl did.
Go blue!’
April 12th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
I’m happy to see your little tribute to Karl Henize. I went to graduate school with his son Vance, who is now a space physicist.
It would be great to see him become the first second-generation astronaut, but in the mean time it’s just cool to watch him fire spinning.
April 12th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
B.A. Everybody has difficulty going up a flight of stairs. An example would be if they traveled 19 flights of stairs just before the current one!
April 12th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Rrrrr. Who was it said “give us a preview button”? Yeah, what he said.
April 12th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
I notice on the intro to Yuri’s Night, the orbiting rocket doesn’t maintain an inertial orientation; it appears to be tidally locked!
April 12th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
The article repeats a common “deception” that Apollo 15 was comprised of an all U of M crew. Commander Dave Scott was a West Point/MIT grad. He never attended U of M, but was given an Honorary Doctorate to allow the illusion of an all Wolverine crew.
April 12th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Phil, you amaze me….you mean you don’t want to see the Stars as they “Really are”?
I would go in a minute…but I won’t go with “Space Adventures” though…deciding to outsource their company is just plain baloney…
And very un-american!
April 12th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Last summer at Kennedy Space Center for the launch that was scrubbed–you know, STS114–I had a ticket for the “Breakfast With An Astronaut” before the launch. There were quite alot of people in the room, and a decent buffet, I might add. I was getting coffee, and Charlie Walker came over to get some, and I didn’t realize it was him. I just said I needed coffee badly, and he agreed he did too. Lol. (Well, I had been up and driving since 5:00 a.m.). Anyway, he seemed like a nice guy and gave a good speech.
It was just a shame the launch was scrubbed right when we were all about to get on the bus. One astronaut I would really like to meet is John Young. To me, he epitomizes class in flight…and space.
April 13th, 2006 at 12:55 am
I can’t believe how little you people wish to talk about A TRUE achievement of human kind. C’mon only one little mention of first name? Just say that – Yuri Gagarin, does it hurt? No!
p.s. hope it will get through the Spam Karma 2 this time …
April 13th, 2006 at 2:45 am
Maybe it’s different where you are, but in the U.S.A., Gagarin is the only Yuri most of us know. know
April 13th, 2006 at 5:13 am
I got to meet Dr. Henize in 1986. We booked him for a couple of talks for our astronomy club. I was amazed at how well he handled the “public” side of being an astronaut – always with grace and courtesy. It was in the aftermath of the Challenger, so people wanted opinions and thoughts – but I don’t think we ever thought of the personal connection. He was “an astronaut” – not a co-worker or friend.
Thanks for bringing up the memories.
Dave
April 13th, 2006 at 5:29 am
“in the U.S.A., Gagarin is the only Yuri most of us know.”
That’s right in general, though it might’ve refered to Dr. Yuri Zhivago.
April 13th, 2006 at 7:42 am
Speaking of space explorers, here is an interesting thought — well, at least to me. The “next Armstrong”, i.e. the next person to set foot on the Moon again, is already among us. He/she may be an engineer at some aerospace company, a military pilot at some air force facility, a scientist at some research institution, a test pilot, a joung PhD, whatever. And the BA or some of us may have already met him/her and talked with him/her. We just don’t know who he/she is, and neither does he/she.
April 13th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Sure, UM can be proud, but per capita you don’t have anything on Lawrence County, IN. This po-dunk county of 40,000 rednecks (plus my family…) has produced 3 astronauts: Gus Grissom, Steve Bowersox, and Charles Walker. Hey, we gotta have something to brag about…
April 13th, 2006 at 9:50 am
DOH! You’d think i’d get Ken Bowersox first name right…
April 13th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Thanks for the personal touch, BA. These men, and women, are heroic modern pioneers.
April 13th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Spartans!
That is all.
April 13th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
I only met one astronaut once. One of the Apollo-lunar guys. I won’t mention a name because at the time I met him (mid 70s) he was suffering a bad case of “hero head”. Personality aside, you have to have a great respect for what they did and how well they did it.
April 13th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Go Bucks!
sorry . . . couldn’t resist
April 13th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Tigran Khanzadyan, I’m not sure what your complaint is. “Yuri’s Night” is the name of an annual celebration in honor of Yuri Gagarin. Phil mentioned it as a reason to wax philosophic about space. No one is avoiding saying his name or giving him credit.
April 17th, 2006 at 1:32 am
Well, my point was that the deserved credit is not always given.
The article here is also an example … IMHO.
Many times I witnessed (once in Ireland, ironically) during the discussions of possible space related celebrations the propositions were to mark the first human space flight. In all cases everything was nice, but it wasn’t the name of Yuri Gagarin. People “don’t know” about it … I wonder why is that.