God's Speed John Glenn

As most of you will already know by now, Astronaut, Senator and fellow-Ohioan John Glenn passed away today at 95.

Shamelessly borrowed from the infoweb

So it seemed appropriate to put this out one more time, as we wish you God's Speed John Glenn -

The Right Stuff

As today is July 20th, I woke up with astronauts (and even cosmonauts) on the brain.  41 years ago man first landed on the moon - and better yet made it back in one piece!


My aunt still remembers a Saturday in the late 1960's,  when her shopping companion grabbed the future Senator from Ohio in a Columbus department store, and holding him in a near death grip exclaimed - "You're John Glenn!" Without losing any of his composure despite being clutched by a very excited housewife, he replied "I know lady, and who are you?"

John Glenn did not go to the moon of course, but he always epitomized the excitement of the space race.  The captain of Friendship 7 was not even the first man in space, his orbit followed the earlier exploits of Gagarin and Titov, but his flight in 1962 captured the imagination of the world.

Like John Glenn, I do not suppose that this Speedmaster visited the moon either, but what I can tell you with certainty was that it was manufactured in 1969 - the same year that Apollo 11 landed on the moon.


Growing up, I imagined we'd be having weekend getaways to the moon, or even Mars by now.  Perhaps in another 40 years.

The Right Stuff, and a Favorite Aunt

I've rolled this one out when I've been feeling nostalgic.  And tonight is one of those nights.   

 

The Right Stuff - A Summer Rerun

This first ran 5 years ago today.  As it is not just a Tempus Fugit anniversary, but also a NASA anniversary I thought I'd "re-heat" this one -

The Right Stuff

As today is July 20th, I woke up with astronauts (and even cosmonauts) on the brain.  41 years ago man first landed on the moon - and better yet made it back in one piece!


My aunt still remembers a Saturday in the late 1960's,  when her shopping companion grabbed the future Senator from Ohio in a Columbus department store, and holding him in a near death grip exclaimed - "You're John Glenn!" Without loosing any of his composure despite being clutched by a very excited housewife, he replied "I know lady, and who are you?"

John Glenn did not go to the moon of course, but he always epitomized the excitement of the space race.  The captain of Friendship 7 was not even the first man in space, his orbit followed the earlier exploits of Gagarin and Titov, but his flight in 1962 captured the imagination of the world.

Like John Glenn, I do not suppose that this Speedmaster visited the moon either, but what I can tell you with certainty was that it was manufactured in 1969 - the same year that Apollo 11 landed on the moon.


Growing up, I imagined we'd be having weekend getaways to the moon, or even Mars by now.  Perhaps in another 40 years.

The Right Stuff - A Summer Rerun

This first ran 5 years ago today.  As it is not just a Tempus Fugit anniversary, but also a NASA anniversary I thought I'd "re-heat" this one -

The Right Stuff

As today is July 20th, I woke up with astronauts (and even cosmonauts) on the brain.  41 years ago man first landed on the moon - and better yet made it back in one piece!

Astronauts and Cosmonauts

Yes, it is safe to say that although I was born a bit after, in many ways I feel that I am a child of the atomic age.  As a Northern Youth growing up in Ohio, I idolized John Glenn - as my whole family did.  Particularly the one event that went something like "oh my God, you're John Glenn", and the Senator's reply:  "I know lady, who are you?!"

And for those astronauts - it was Omega and the Speedmaster.  This is my vintage 1969 model - I am on the hunt for a bracelet for it - but otherwise it is all original, as you can no-doubt tell from the wear on the bezel.


But the cosmonauts had something equally cool (at least in my opinion) if not so sophisticated.  And when Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin piloted Vostok 1, he wore something sorta' like this -

This is the 50th anniversary edition of the the Gagarin from Sturmanskie.  And on that note another 15 day review begins!

We know all about the Omega Speedmaster Professional, so it's time to learn about it's "Eastern Cousin".  


Stay tuned Tovarich!  15 days with the Sturmanski Gagarin has begun!

Space...

And today I woke up with astronauts and cosmonauts on the brain again.  With the last Space Shuttle mission underway, this seemed appropriate -

I know that with all of the problems we have in the world today that space travel is really a luxury that is going to have to wait awhile, but the time will come again I'm sure.

The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff

As today is July 20th, I woke up with astronauts (and even cosmonauts) on the brain.  41 years ago man first landed on the moon - and better yet made it back in one piece!

My aunt still remembers a Saturday in the late 1960's,  when her shopping companion grabbed the future Senator from Ohio in a Columbus department store, and holding him in a near death grip exclaimed - "You're John Glenn!" Without loosing any of his composure despite being clutched by a very excited housewife, he replied "I know lady, and who are you?"

John Glenn did not go to the moon of course, but he always epitomized the excitement of the space race.  The captain of Friendship 7 was not even the first man in space, his orbit followed the earlier exploits of Gagarin and Titov, but his flight in 1962 captured the imagination of the world.

Like John Glenn, I do not suppose that this Speedmaster visited the moon either, but what I can tell you with certainty was that it was manufactured in 1969 - the same year that Apollo 11 landed on the moon.


Growing up, I imagined we'd be having weekend getaways to the moon, or even Mars by now.  Perhaps in another 40 years.