American Heroes

This last week I got to spend four days hanging out with some of America’s greatest. I was with a group of over 30 Shuttle Astronauts, and about five who flew on the Apollo (most to the moon), and a few who flew on the Gemini Capsule. One of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts was also there! This picture shows Scott Carpenter, the second man to orbit the Earth aboard Aurora 7, and Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon!

The event we were all attending was the dinner and Induction ceremony for the 2010 United States Astronaut Hall of Fame Inductees. One of the Astronauts honored this year is an old friend, Guion (Guy) Bluford. I must admit it was hard to spot all these amazing folks – none of them were wearing their space suits!

I spent some time talking about rendezvous techniques with Bruce McCandless who was the first Astronaut to fly completely untethered in space. I sat at a table directly below a Saturn V rocket! (Boy is that thing big, and it launched men on their trip to the moon.)

I sat directly behind Buzz, who is something of a character! (He was on Dancing with the Stars!) Here he is in front of an Apollo capsule, like he flew to the Moon!

At our table was Richard Covey, who was the Command Pilot of the first Shuttle to fly after the Challenger accident. (Guy’s first launch, which I attended many years ago as Guy’s guest, was on the Challenger, and it was the first night launch of the Shuttle!) There were several other moon walkers – real ones, not musical types – in attendance as well. What an amazing evening.

I was invited to the event by Guy, so I got to be treated as a VIP and ride to the event with the families and guests of the other inductees – Kathy Thornton, Ken Bowersox, and Frank Culbertson. Just listening to these folks talk about their adventures, and the adventures of the astronauts, themselves, was an experience not to be missed.

I bought the centerpiece on our table tonight – a model of the Shuttle Discovery, and before I left, the model had the signatures of nine folks who flew on a Shuttle – all of them several times. The model will be in my office at ACC for my students to see.

Guy and I spent several minutes remembering our time together while we both worked on PhD degrees in Aerospace Engineering. It was a wonderful time for both of us – getting to work on the technology that made the Shuttle possible, and using the biggest computers on the planet to do our work. Guy went off to be the first African-American in Space, and I went off to teach Computer Science and manage a supercomputer center. I am sure Guy had more fun, but I am happy with the career I had as well. I also got to see Guy’s wife, Linda, who I have not seen in far too many years. It was great to visit with these fine friends!

All in all, it was a wonderful time, and one that makes me even more committed to help guide my own students toward careers just as exciting as the one these amazing folks had!

All of these men and women are true American Heroes! We needs more heroes like these, and these activities were part of an effort to make that happen. The entire event is sponsored by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which awards scholarships to deserving students majoring in the sciences – not just Aerospace, but others as well. The foundation was established by members of the original Mercury 7 astronaut team, and today is supported by most of today’s astronauts and many industrial sponsors.

You cannot be around these folks without getting a bit choked up! This country has produced an amazing group of folks in the Astronaut Corps! We are all a bit worried about how we will keep all of this magic going. The Shuttle program is winding down, and we have no clear guidance on where we will go next. But I am sure we will work it all out. I am also sure of another thing:

I am proud to be an American, and proud to live in a country that can accomplish such marvelous feats as space travel. I am also proud of my own service to this country, and grateful to be a small part of this piece of history in the making! Get out there and make your mark on our country’s history!