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NASA Astronaut Dick Gordon, Pilot of Gemini and Apollo 12, Dies At 88 (astronautscholarship.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the rest-in-peace dept.

sconeu writes: Dick Gordon, pilot of Gemini 11 and command module pilot of Apollo 12, has died at the age of 88. Gordon was also slated to command the cancelled Apollo 18 mission. "Dick Gordon is an American hero, and a true renaissance man by any measure. He was an American naval officer and aviator, chemist, test pilot, NASA astronaut, professional football executive, oil and gas executive and generous contributor to worthy causes," said Curt Brown, board chairman of the Orlando-based Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and an astronaut and veteran of six space flights. "He was in a category all his own." The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has a touching write-up that details Gordon's childhood and career successes. You can read the full article here.

27 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Oblig. xkcd by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    https://xkcd.com/893/

    Sadly, he's right. That number will likely come down to zero within our lifetime.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Oblig. xkcd by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      Wait a minute, did he ever set foot on the moon?

    2. Re:Oblig. xkcd by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The next person to set foot on another world will be either Chinese or an employee of SpaceX.

      I think Musk's company has a good chance of getting there first. The Chinese are taking it slow and steady, while Musk is willing to take more risks.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Oblig. xkcd by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not about bragging rights. It's more about what the title-tag of the image says: "The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision."

      Eventually, we will have to leave this planet if we are to survive as a species. Now, you may argue that this day is far in the future, and I can only hope that you'd be right, but at some point we have to take that first step. And let's be honest here, considering the amount of steps it's going to take, we might as well start today.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Oblig. xkcd by cwarrior · · Score: 2

      He did not. He was the Command Module pilot and stayed in lunar orbit while he crew mates landed. He was going to get a chance to walk on the moon on one of the Apollo missions that was later scrapped.

    5. Re:Oblig. xkcd by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Would you feel better if I had said "if we want to preserve life as we know it" instead?

      Then again, considering what we do to this planet while we obviously have no way of getting off it in any sensible way, we don't really give a shit whether we survive another century, how could I expect such a species to care about surviving the Sun going red giant in a few billion years?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Oblig. xkcd by camperdave · · Score: 1

      "The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision."

      The rational person tries to adapt himself to the world. The irrational person tries to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the irrational person.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    7. Re:Oblig. xkcd by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Goodness, you see a gentleman of this previous generation, so accomplished....what a full life and service to the country, etc.

      Hmm....it ain't gonna be pretty in about 30+ years....nothing of that fashion written as the famous people of today day.

      Snoop Dog - Dead today at age 88, smoked a lot of dope, drank Gin and Juice.

      Sad.....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    8. Re:Oblig. xkcd by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I've always found this line of reasoning unconvincing. It's basically a consequentialist argument, but the connection between the desired outcome and the desired course of action is tenuous as best.

      To see why, let's imagine you are King Priam of ancient Troy. One of your advisers tells you that in several billion years the Earth will become inhabitable and that the Trojan culture will not survive unless it develops a way to live in the heavens. Meanwhile news of a Greek invasion fleet assembling in Aulis on the Euripus Straight...

      The point is that the eventual certainty of extinction has to be weighed against scenarios of more imminent extinction; scenarios you're in a much better position to do something about. We are so far from having the technical means to survive our planet it makes no sense to make that a priority now. And we're not really in much of a better position to deal with the future uninhabitability of the Earth than the ancient Trojans were.

      There are better arguments of space exploration; one of which is that science and its engineering spinoffs are now essential for human survival in a way that was not true even a hundred years ago. -- you'll notice that the predicted Malthusian population crisis never materialized. And we are nearing a point where we will be able to handle a number of more imminent civilization-ending phenomena, like asteroid impacts and global pandemics.

      But fundamentally science isn't utilitarian; it's an aspect of our cultural evolution that purely as a side effect enables our culture to survive events that would have destroyed our more purely pragmatic predecessors. Things like computers and weather prediction aren't the exclusive product of market forces; they rely on fundamental advances in mathematics and physical science that were undertaken for centuries before they had any practical application.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    9. Re:Oblig. xkcd by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      IMHO, manned missions will be replaced by autonomous, or semi-autonomous robot missions, and that is a GOOD thing because we don't care about bringing them back/they can be tailored for each mission/they don't die on the way/they don't need oxygen and food/lots and lots of gains. Bragging rights are no substitute for those gains, manned missions have had their day.

      We're still at the point where ten years of Opportunity's work could be replaced by two weeks of a geologist on site, though. Either way, a *lot* of technological progress needs to be made for any future mission to make sense.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    10. Re:Oblig. xkcd by Sumus+Semper+Una · · Score: 1

      Musk better hope he gets there first. My biggest worry about his ventures is that they seem largely driven by a cult of personality. That causes a lot of problems for SpaceX if he passes away and leaves a less charismatic successor (which seems likely) before realizing substantial gains from the project.

      But hey, as long as humans start exploring the cosmos again I don't really care what they look like or what language they speak. I just want them to keep us informed of what they find out and how things are coming along.

    11. Re:Oblig. xkcd by martinX · · Score: 1

      When that happens, we'll still have Moon Unit.

      --
      When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
    12. Re: Oblig. xkcd by CustomBuild · · Score: 1

      88? Your optimism is strong.

    13. Re:Oblig. xkcd by stud9920 · · Score: 1

      In the long run Malthus is ALWAYS right

    14. Re:Oblig. xkcd by Agripa · · Score: 1

      Eventually, we will have to leave this planet if we are to survive as a species.

      We would have to do more than that whether we leave or not. We would have to stop evolution.

  2. That sucks by rosencreuz · · Score: 1

    They should already find a solution for this. Valuable people keep dying.

  3. SCE to AUX by jfdavis668 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apollo 12 was the launch hit by lightning, and almost aborted. Very professional crew and ground control were able to handle the problem. Good thing there was an SCE to AUX switch. Sorry to hear that one of them has gone.

  4. ...his wife, Linda, who died September 2017 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Owner of a lonely heart. Retire and die soon. Or that.

  5. Sexdolls by sycodon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Space exploration with robots is kind of like fucking a Sexdoll, I expect.

    The results are the same, but the experience leaves something to be desired.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Sexdolls by mshaslam · · Score: 2

      And less chance of bringing back some weird disease.

    2. Re:Sexdolls by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      It keeps getting better with new technology.

      That works for both, actually.

      The cost is lower for the same outcome.

      That is debatable, though. The best you can say is that a manned mission has a very high threshold before something interesting happens, but once crossed, a lot more interesting stuff happens. The ordering of the ratios of interesting stuff per money is therefore rather nebulous. It could be better for your robot, or it could be worse.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  6. Re:Fly high by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

    It took politicians with guts to funnel all that money

    Oh please. The Cold War is the only reason we ever had a space program.

    " The Cold War is over. You can't simply say “Russia!” to Congress, and they whip out their checkbook and say, “How much?” We have to tell the people why this atom-smasher is going to benefit their lives. "

    --Michio Kaku
    https://todayinsci.com/K/Kaku_...

    --
    If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
  7. Re:Fly high by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

    I've watched the movie and read the book. I've also watched From The Earth to the moon.

    But it's okay Mr. AC, I'm ignorant in such matters.

    --
    If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
  8. Re:Don't worry, it's not real by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Oh yeah? And where do Hitler and the Reptiloids live, then, if not inside the hollow earth?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:Don't worry, it's not real by ncc74656 · · Score: 1

    On the moon. You should read your Heinlein again.

    ...or watch Iron Sky. :-)

    --
    20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  10. Re:Don't worry, it's not real by martinX · · Score: 1

    Loved that movie. A rare Finnish-German-Australian co-production. I knew someone in it, so I watched, and waited. Three seconds he was on-screen for. Acting's a tough gig.

    --
    When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
  11. Re:Don't worry, it's not real by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Oh please, I'm trying to get a serious discussion and you come with Sci-Fi writers.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.