Comments on: Hey NASA! Listen Up!

By: Neil B

Neil B — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:02:37 +0000

Just for the record and to clarify: the topic cartoon was about astronauts who landed on the Moon, but I made a segue into the issue of minority astronauts in general. As for returning to the Moon: I don’t think it is worth spending all that money for that or for going to Mars – in the foreseeable future, given all the troubles we are having now. Just maybe, if it was a full international effort it could be worth it for the cooperative benefits.

By: DavidMcMahon

DavidMcMahon — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:16:53 +0000

At the start anyway, they got all their astronauts from fighter pilots. Of course in those days they were all men. I think Harrison Schmidt (a geologist) was the first non-military person and scientist sent on a space mission.

By: mk

mk — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:57:17 +0000

Apologies, Julianne.

For a second I thought I was at Bad Astronomy! ;^}

By: Yvette

Yvette — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:32:19 +0000

I want that shirt. That is all.

By: Julianne

Julianne — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:22:28 +0000

Dude, it’s a cartoon about dinosaurs. Not to be confused with official CV policy.

By: mk

mk — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:51:39 +0000

Now that’s the best reason yet for going back to the moon! Because women have never been there!

Heh.

By: Neil B

Neil B — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:39:29 +0000

Yeah, women were just not taken seriously in the 60s. (And BTW, the “Movement” that was pushing for more civil rights, ecology, anti-war etc. had many leaders also contemptuous of women taking big strides. Look up the history.) I don’t know when the first Asian made it. However, a black astronaut was picked way back on June 30, 1967! Sadly few of the general public know of him. That is partly because he died in a training flight and never went up. Check this out, but I think there is an error (Bluford was the first black American up, but a Cuban went before him – see below):

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html

First astronaut:
Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967, was the first black astronaut, but he died in a plane crash during a training flight and never made it into space. Guion Bluford, 1983, became the first black astronaut to travel in space; Mae Jemison, 1992, became the first black female astronaut. Frederick D. Gregory, 1998, was the first African-American shuttle commander.

But here’s a better rundown from a board, at http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question86253.html:

cag1970

Let’s straighten this out:

Captain Edward Dwight (USAF) was the first black person to train as an astronaut. He trained from 1962 to 1966, but was never designated to a specific program. He’s made his living as an artist and monument sculptor since then.

Major Robert H. Lawrence (USAF) was the first black person to be assigned to a specific space program–specifically, the Air Force’s Manned Orbital Laboratory program (successor to the X-20 program).

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (Cuba) was the first person of African ancestory AND the first Hispanic speaker to travel in space. He flew with Yuri Romanenko on Soyuz 38 September 18-26, 1980.

As a matter of course, neither Dwight nor Lawrence qualify as astronauts, under the definitions of the FAI, NASA or the US military. Dwight and Lawrence were, more correctly, astronaut-candidates. Tamayo Méndez is considered a cosmonaut, techincally, because he traveled on board a Soviet spacecraft. But his flight into space predated Bluford’s journey on board STS-8 by almost three years.

http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=157

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaldo_Tamayo-Mendez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Henry_Lawrence%2C_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut#Insignia

Sep 22 07, 9:22 PM
[end quote]

By: jianying

jianying — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:26:26 +0000

I think there’s a documentary on how women were trained for the moon missions but was not called to go.

By: Sili

Sili — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:59:33 +0000

But sausages are delicious!

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:39:36 +0000

Every comic comes equip with bonus jokes: the alt text and the subject line automatically suggested by “comments.” So “you may be wondering who the thirteenth person on the moon is. it’s t-rex! he left his wallet there once. it was by ACCIDENT.”