Comments on: Wolverines!

By: Tigran Khanzadyan

Tigran Khanzadyan — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:32:41 +0000

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.

By: Irishman

Irishman — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:29:23 +0000

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.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:54:24 +0000

Go Bucks!
sorry . . . couldn’t resist

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:14:50 +0000

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.

By: Al

Al — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 19:05:20 +0000

Spartans!

That is all.

By: George

George — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 17:52:44 +0000

Thanks for the personal touch, BA. These men, and women, are heroic modern pioneers.

By: DennyMo

DennyMo — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:50:47 +0000

DOH! You’d think i’d get Ken Bowersox first name right…

By: DennyMo

DennyMo — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:42:42 +0000

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…

By: Paolo Amoroso

Paolo Amoroso — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 14:42:02 +0000

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.

By: Mark Martin

Mark Martin — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:29:48 +0000

“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.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:13:53 +0000

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

By: Kaptain K

Kaptain K — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 09:45:56 +0000

Maybe it’s different where you are, but in the U.S.A., Gagarin is the only Yuri most of us know. know

By: Tigran Khanzadyan

Tigran Khanzadyan — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 07:55:04 +0000

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 …

By: Melusine

Melusine — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 06:21:36 +0000

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.

By: P. Edward Murray

P. Edward Murray — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 02:07:42 +0000

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!

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 01:28:02 +0000

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.

By: Mark Martin

Mark Martin — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 22:41:46 +0000

I notice on the intro to Yuri’s Night, the orbiting rocket doesn’t maintain an inertial orientation; it appears to be tidally locked!

By: Waynek

Waynek — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:16:38 +0000

Rrrrr. Who was it said “give us a preview button”? Yeah, what he said.

By: Dude

Dude — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:15:20 +0000

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!

By: Waynek

Waynek — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:14:57 +0000

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.