re: Astronaut Gene Cernan Dead - Last Man on the Moon

If anyone can get a copy of his autobiography, it is a great read. Rest in Peace, Captain.

fricking legend.

R.I.P.

Watched the Netflix doc on him over the holidays. Great man, and a great movie.

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I used to train astronauts (1998 through 2003) and work with them in a different role (2005-2011).

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Can you offer more detail?

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warlock1974, thanks for asking!

After my LSU 1998 Mech E. degree, I moved to Houston and worked Building 4N at Johnson Space Center, for the OSO Group (Operations Support Officer - ISS Mechanisms and Maintenance). Part of that job involved ISS flight control, including rotations in Moscow, working with astronauts there too. But back home, I taught a Fundamentals of ISS Maintenance class at the ISS mock-up in Bldg. 7, I think from 1999 to 2003. It was very hands-on, so the "tinkering" (mechanically inclined) astronauts, about 3/4 of them, loved the class. Essentially I demonstrated how to perform about five maintenance swaps (R&Rs - Remove and Replace). Boeing had a fairly consistent "rack" system, so the R&Rs really were fairly easy.

Later in my career, for the Shuttle Program, I was an engineer for Payload and Flight Requirements (mass properties and such for the payload bay).

Finished off a long stint in Flight Crew Equipment, particularly cameras, and spent a lot of time with crew members those years as well.

Was one of thousands and thousands laid off in late-2011. Good times while it lasted; I do miss it some days.

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JPinLondon

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Thanks for the response. Very nice.

I grew up listening to and/or watching the launches starting with Alan Shephard's Freedom 7 flight.

In April of 1969 I was a senior in high school and President of the Science Club (GEEK). The 8th grade class was taken on a field trip to NASA and I was invited to go along. An alumnus of our high school was one of the physicians assigned to the astronauts and he provided a "behind the scenes" tour. Afterward, the mothers chaperoning the group took the kids to the visitors cafeteria for lunch and our alumnus took me and the 8th grade teacher into the staff commissary. While eating, the doc looked up and shouted "Neal, Buzz, come here..."
I hardly breathed for the next 30 minutes.

Around 1985, I was at a wedding in Uvalde Texas and a country western band was playing. In the middle of the group was this little short guy with a big gap between his front teeth. There was no reason why I should know this guy, but I did. It soon dawned on me that it was Pete Conrad. I spoke to him and tried to tell him how much I admired him and the others, but he just blew it off saying it wasn't a big deal and happened a long time before.

I was associated with the organization that trained the astronauts in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab and got to meet some of the shuttle astronauts on a visit there and had the opportunity to spend a little time with Michael Gernhardt at a diving convention.

Regardless what they say, they are true American heroes and I envy your time with them.

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I read your awesome thread. Seriously good stuff. I used to train astronauts (1998 through 2003) and work with them in a different role (2005-2011).

Can you link that thread to this one?

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Thanks. Here's the link to the thread. My dinner with an astronaut.

I was at NASA on Monday and Tuesday prepping for some tests we were running from the ISS. We all got the news and it was pretty somber. Sad to see that these guys are dying off and the Milennial, Gen X and Gen Z generations didn't grow up with heros like these to look up to. Even sadder is that Gino was treated as a "Ho-hum. Just another man on the moon." by the media then. All these years later, it's cherished.

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Big Scrub TX

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great post

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FIFY.

I've met Gen. Duke a few times. A really, really nice guy and gives an awesome talk/presentation.

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Fixed it in OP (how I screwed that up I don't know).