From Gemini to Shuttle: John Young Retires

[XNASA]

----Forty-three years ago, Young -- then a Navy test pilot -- tuned in on a small, black-and-white television at the Naval Air Test Center in Florida as President John Kennedy addressed the nation.

After hearing the president's bold proposal to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth, Young knew what he had to do.

"I thought returning safely to Earth sounded like a good idea," quips Young, who has stood on the Moon, driven 16 miles in a lunar rover and spent three nights on the lunar surface. He is the only person to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs and was the first to fly into space six times -- seven times counting his lunar liftoff.---

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/young_retires.html

I had the privilege of meeting John Young a couple of times. Once during a meeting that he was chairing, about how to split up the bandwidth to and from the International Space Station, John became dissatisfied with the progress and just stood up, closed his briefcase and walked out of the room without saying a word. He was also known around JSC for his habit of not using the sidewalks that criss-crossed the quad. Once and a while you'd see somebody disappear into the brush, and it would be him.

[commander bunnypants]

1. happy retirment

lucky man

CB

[Cuban_Liberal]

2. What a great guy!

I hope he enjoys and awesome retirement.

---C_L, a HUGE NASA fan.

:D

[pmbryant]

3. Salute to John Young

This fellow flew on the first manned Gemini mission in 1965 with Gus Grissom, and thus was the first American in space that wasn't one of the original "Mercury 7".

Later he flew on another Gemini mission, plus two Apollo missions, including walking on the Moon in 1972 on Apollo 16.

And he was one of the few Apollo-era astronauts who stuck around through the dry years of the late 1970s to help the Shuttle get off the ground.

Amazing that he has stuck with NASA through all these years. One of a kind.

--Peter

[XNASA]

6. There something different about men who have walked on the moon.

I can't put my finger on what it is, but I've met both Young and Gene Cernan and they have some kind of aura that's difficult to describe.

I guess when you one of only 12 people in the History of Earth to have walked upon another celestial body, it changes you.

[Trajan]

4. I have also met John Young ...

Though I didnt know it at first glance ...

Was entering Bldg 150 (Palmdale Plant 42) from the east side, and was overtaken by two fellas, one who was rather diminuative .... I looked over as they passed, and noticed one had a NASA leather bomber-style jacket with a blue jumpsuit underneath, and the name 'John Young' on the patch ....

At first I thought: 'That cant be THE John Young ... too small ... '

Then I thought: wait: the early guys could have been kinda smallish .... which would help them fit into tight cockpits ahnd stuff ...

So I called out "Mr. Young ? ... " .. He slowed and turned his head back as he kept walking, "Howdy there' ...

Um ... You are THE John Young ..... right ? ...

"Yes ... Yes I am", he says, with a slight drawl ...

"Wow" .... I ran and caught up with him, as he and his friend kept walkin ....

Mr. Young ? ... You are a true hero of mine, sir ... I recall your Gemini flights when I was a child, and I certainly watched as you piloted STS-1 .... You are one of my personal heros, and it's nice to see you here .....

He stopped and shook my hand ... said he appreciated our work in Palmdale ... I asked him why he took the back door ... he said he just flew in and parked out back (one of the NASA T38's, which the Nauts would use as their personal mach 1 cadillac) .... He must have parked a distance, because I didnt see it out there while I was smoking a cig ....

Just said, I appreciated what HE did ... and was glad to have met him .... He bid me good day .. and that was it ...

I've met a few astronauts, McDivitt being another .... but none meant as much as Young ....

[XNASA]

7. It's something to remember, ain't it?

Shaking hands with someone who has walked on the Moon? The only other Astros that I met that had as much presence as Young, were Cernan (who has also been to the Moon) and Story Musgrave. Oh, and John Glenn.

[johnnie]

5. Happy retirement Mr. Young

These people are true American heroes. They seem to get forgotten with time, but the things they have done are remarkable to say the least.
A few months ago I watched the movie "Apollo 13" for the first time. I was alone at home and when they landed I jumped off the couch like it was a football game...lol. I knew how it ended, but it is just so amazing what these people are like. Oh, and they all seem a bit whacked out too.

[pmbryant]

8. Here's a current interview with Young from AP

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/12/16/spacemans.advice.ap/

Astronaut: Space exploration worth the risk
'Not a lot we can do to make it any better'

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Legendary astronaut John Young said Thursday, on the verge of his retirement, that NASA has not changed its safety culture since the Columbia accident but has done all it can to improve the space shuttle and should return to flight as soon as possible.

NASA and the nation should just accept the failure rate of 1-in-57 shuttle flights, Young said, stressing that space exploration is well worth the risk.

"I really believe we should be operating it, flying it, right now because there's just not a lot we can do to make it any better," said the 74-year-old Young, the nation's longest-serving astronaut, the ninth man to walk on the moon, and a man often described as NASA's conscience.

In an interview with The Associated Press two weeks before his retirement, the Gemini, Apollo and shuttle commander said it is difficult for a big bureaucracy like NASA to change its ways. He said it will probably be a long time before the space agency alters the way it thinks and behaves.

"I was in the astronaut office the other day and I asked them how many people thought NASA had changed its culture and nobody raised their hand," Young said. "There were about 100 people there, so that's how they feel right now."

[XNASA]

9. It's true about the culture at NASA.

Best place I ever worked. Everyone is treated with respect. I actually enjoyed going to work everyday, not just because I enjoyed my job, but because I loved the people I worked along side and got the same in return. I regret that I'll probably never have that feeling again.