Still, it was a nice gesture.
Happy anniversary, "Handshake in Space."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Quote
"I'm going to be like the man who flew the Atlantic after Lindberg - old what's-his-name."
-Michael Collins, on being the only member of Apollo 11 to not walk on the Moon.
-Michael Collins, on being the only member of Apollo 11 to not walk on the Moon.
More Collins
"Apollo 11, Apollo 11, good morning from the Black Team."
Could they be talking to me? It takes me twenty seconds to fumble for the microphone button and answer groggily, I guess I have only been asleep five hours or so; I had a tough time getting to sleep, and now I'm having trouble waking up. Neil, Buzz, and I all putter about fixing breakfast and getting various items ready for transfer into the LM. [Later] I stuff Neil and Buzz into the LM along with an armload of equipment. Now I have to do the tunnel bit again, closing hatches, installing drogue and probe, and disconnecting the electrical umbilical. I am on the radio constantly now, running through an elaborate series of joint checks with Eagle.
I check progress with Buzz: "I have five minutes and fifteen seconds since we started. Attitude is holding very well."
"Roger, Mike, just hold it a little bit longer."
"No sweat, I can hold it all day. Take your sweet time. How's the czar over there? He's so quiet."
Neil chimes in, "Just hanging on- and punching."
Punching those computer buttons, I guess he means.
"All I can say is, beware the revolution," and then, getting no answer, I formally bid them goodbye. "You cats take it easy on the lunar surface...."
"O.K., Mike," Buzz answers cheerily, and I throw the switch which releases them. With my nose against the window and the movie camera churning away, I watch them go. When they are safely clear of me, I inform Neil, and he begins a slow pirouette in place, allowing me a look at his outlandish machine and its four extended legs.
"The Eagle has wings'" Neil exults. It doesn't look like any eagle I have ever seen. It is the weirdest-looking contraption ever to invade the sky, floating there with its legs awkwardly jutting out above a body which has neither symmetry nor grace. I make sure all four landing gears are down and locked, report that fact, and then lie a little.
"I think you've got a fine-looking flying machine there, Eagle, despite the fact you're upside down."
"Somebody's upside down," Neil retorts.
"O.K., Eagle. One minute . . . you guys take care."
Neil answers, "See you later." I hope so.
When the one minute is up, I fire my thrusters precisely as planned and we begin to separate, checking distances and velocities as we go. This burn is a very small one, just to give Eagle some breathing room. From now on it's up to them, and they will make two separate burns in reaching the lunar surface. The first one will serve to drop Eagle's perilune to fifty thousand feet. Then, when they reach this spot over the eastern edge of the Sea of Tranquility, Eagle's descent engine will be fired up for the second and last time, and Eagle will lazily arc over into a 12-minute computer- controlled descent to some point at which Neil will take over for a manual landing.
-Michael Collins
Quote
In between switch throws I have plenty of time to think, if not daydream. Here I am, a white male, age thirty-eight, height 5 feet 11 inches, weight 165 pounds, salary $17,000 per annum, resident of a Texas suburb, with black spot on my roses, state of mind unsettled, about to be shot off to the Moon. Yes, to the Moon.
At the moment, the most important control is over on Neil's side, just outboard of his left knee. It is the abort handle, and now it has power to it, so if Neil rotates it 30 counterclockwise, three solid rockets above us will fire and yank the CM free of the service module and everything below it. It is only to be used in extremes. A large bulky pocket has been added to Neil's left suit leg, and it looks as though if he moves his leg slightly, it's going to snag on the abort handle. I quickly point this out to Neil, and he grabs the pocket and pulls it as far over to the inside of his thigh as he can, but it still doesn't look secure to either one of us. Jesus, I can see the headlines now: MOONSHOT FALLS INTO OCEAN: Mistake by crew, program officials intimate. Last transmission from Armstrong prior to leaving the pad reportedly was "Oops."
-Michael Collins, remembering his daydreams while on the launchpad of Apollo 11
At the moment, the most important control is over on Neil's side, just outboard of his left knee. It is the abort handle, and now it has power to it, so if Neil rotates it 30 counterclockwise, three solid rockets above us will fire and yank the CM free of the service module and everything below it. It is only to be used in extremes. A large bulky pocket has been added to Neil's left suit leg, and it looks as though if he moves his leg slightly, it's going to snag on the abort handle. I quickly point this out to Neil, and he grabs the pocket and pulls it as far over to the inside of his thigh as he can, but it still doesn't look secure to either one of us. Jesus, I can see the headlines now: MOONSHOT FALLS INTO OCEAN: Mistake by crew, program officials intimate. Last transmission from Armstrong prior to leaving the pad reportedly was "Oops."
-Michael Collins, remembering his daydreams while on the launchpad of Apollo 11
We had a saying in the Coast Guard...
When speaking of way back when, the old timers would say, "Back when ships were wood and men were steel."
That's what I think of when I think of the early astronauts: men of steel.
And if you have brass ones when you're 25, you have brass ones when you're 70.
It's a natural fact.
I figure that a clip of Armstrong reacting to a conspiracy nut isn't on YouTube because in fact he murdered the guy and it would be bad form to post the video.
Too bad.
Anyhow, here's a delightful clip which never gets old in which Buzz handles an idiot half his age:
Sweet Michael Collins takes a gentler approach: (P.S. Don't ask me what they're trying to imply in this video. I don't have a clue. I just know Collins is hilarious.)
If you ask me, both men showed remarkable restraint.
That's what I think of when I think of the early astronauts: men of steel.
And if you have brass ones when you're 25, you have brass ones when you're 70.
It's a natural fact.
I figure that a clip of Armstrong reacting to a conspiracy nut isn't on YouTube because in fact he murdered the guy and it would be bad form to post the video.
Too bad.
Anyhow, here's a delightful clip which never gets old in which Buzz handles an idiot half his age:
Sweet Michael Collins takes a gentler approach: (P.S. Don't ask me what they're trying to imply in this video. I don't have a clue. I just know Collins is hilarious.)
If you ask me, both men showed remarkable restraint.
Ahem.
I wasn't aware we were racing anymore.
Hey, China, if you get there, can you grab all the jackets and flags and LM descent stages we left and bring them back to us?
Seriously, someone should alert Armstrong and Aldrin.
I hear they've just been kicking back for the last 39 years.
Hey, China, if you get there, can you grab all the jackets and flags and LM descent stages we left and bring them back to us?
Seriously, someone should alert Armstrong and Aldrin.
I hear they've just been kicking back for the last 39 years.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I was talking with one of my sisters the other day...
...and we were discussing how no matter how old you get, some things will always elicit giggles.
Things like Uranus. Things like "penal colony." Things like blue-footed boobies. Things like the grand champion of things that will always be funny, Lake Titicaca.
And then I happened to be reading about what the ISS got photos of today.
And then I died.
Seriously, the placenames are silly enough. But...
WHO WROTE THIS DESCRIPTION?
(Or maybe we're just 12.)
Lake Poopo, Bolivia (Lake Poopo is a small lake near the southern end of a long, elevated basin in the Bolivian Andes known as the Altiplano. The Altiplano extends from the relatively moist region of Lake Titicaca south-southeastward to the large, bright playa of Salar de Uyuni. Poopo is subject to significant changes in size and color related to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. The ISS pass was in mid-morning and expected to be clear.
Things like Uranus. Things like "penal colony." Things like blue-footed boobies. Things like the grand champion of things that will always be funny, Lake Titicaca.
And then I happened to be reading about what the ISS got photos of today.
And then I died.
Seriously, the placenames are silly enough. But...
WHO WROTE THIS DESCRIPTION?
(Or maybe we're just 12.)
Lake Poopo, Bolivia (Lake Poopo is a small lake near the southern end of a long, elevated basin in the Bolivian Andes known as the Altiplano. The Altiplano extends from the relatively moist region of Lake Titicaca south-southeastward to the large, bright playa of Salar de Uyuni. Poopo is subject to significant changes in size and color related to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. The ISS pass was in mid-morning and expected to be clear.
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