Conference 7.286::space

    	Author Dick Lattimer has come out with a "mini-history" of the
    U.S. space program from MERCURY to SKYLAB entitled ALL WE DID WAS FLY
    TO THE MOON.  The subtitle reads:  "A Mini-History of America's Manned 
    Moon Program Including America's Astronaut Patches and Callsigns."
    
    	There are excellent reproductions of the space mission patches,
    including descriptions by the astronauts on how and why they were
    designed; and even though the history may be "mini", I still found
    it interesting and quite informative.  There are also details on 
    touring the various space centers, and where the U.S. manned spacecraft
    are currently located (as of 1988).
    
    	To order the book, send a check for $9.95 plus $2 postage and
    handling to:
    
        THE WHISPERING EAGLE PRESS
    	4300 N.W. 23rd Avenue
        Post Office Box 1702-14
        Gainesville, Florida 32602
        U.S.A.
    
    	Florida residents add 6% Sales Tax.
                                                                     

This book (and more) are available at the Boston Museum of Science store
and, I assume, at many other museums.

							Mike

Article: 39332
From: mike@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Smithwick)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Moon Material Ownership
Date: 16 Jan 92 21:30:12 GMT
Organization: SF-Bay Public-Access Unix
 
In article <1992Jan9.172606.9453@zoo.toronto.edu>
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: 

>In article <1550@tuura.UUCP> urbanf@tuura.UUCP (Urban Fredriksson) writes:
>>... NASA has also sold
>>or given samples to organizations in many countries, so I'm
>>quite sure you could legally buy samples from somewhere.
>
>NASA hasn't sold any of the samples; they are not for sale, to anyone
>at any price.  The few that went to museums etc. almost certainly had
>strings attached.  Samples distributed for research that does not
>destroy them must be returned afterwards.
[]
>Mind you, I expect there are small amounts in private hands here and there.
>If by no other means, I suspect that some of the experimenters using samples
>in destructive procedures might not have destroyed quite all of what they got.
>But I'm not aware of any legitimate private ownership of Apollo material.
>-- 
>"Breakthrough ideas are not             | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
>from teams."  -- Hans von Ohain         |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
 
NASA is in general, very tight on space souveniers. After each shuttle
mission for instance, all of the flight documentation must be
accounted for and is in turn locked up to prevent theft. Imagine if
someone had a 300 page Flight plan, it could very easily be turned
into 150 very nice and saleable items. 
 
The only things they officially approve of are those which the astros
can fit inside their personal preference kits, or special additional
things (such as envelopes or flags) requested by the govt. I believe
the crew members, or at least the one time payload specialists may
keep their flight suits. Also, special items are given to people as
gifts for their service to the program. (Remember that John Glenn's
first words after ignition in his 1962 Mercury flight were "roger,
liftoff and the clock is operating".  I met the guy who has the clock.
He was chief of crew training up through ASTP in 1975). 
 
I have a number of space items here recovered from surplus stores.
Several of which I am convinced flew to the Moon, (and down to the
surface in one case), but all of the ID tags have been taken off to
lessen their value on the collectors market. 
 
Regarding the Moon samples, these would no doubt be the hottest items,
so NASA must take very draconian measures to discourage collectors.
And doing so can go a long way to minimize theft from the research
labs studying them. After all, half the fun of owning something like
that is to brag about it :-). If you can't own it legally, the appeal
goes way down. Remember the guy who boasted about having a tile from
Challanger? The FBI visited him very quickly. 
 
There was an article in a recent Astronomy magazine (Jan. 1992) about
the only private individual in the world to legally own a Moon rock.
Robert Haag is a professional meteorite collector, and after returning
from Australia with about 600 pounds of possible meteorites, he found
one which seemed different than the others. He sent it in to the Lunar
and Planetary Laboratory for tests which confirmed that it was lunar
basalt. The article went on to say that there are a total now of 12
known lunar meteorites.  
-- 
Mike Smithwick - ames!zorch!mike

    I remember John Glenn's first words as being "...and the clock is
    running."
        John Sauter

    Gee, I thought it was "the clock is (or has) started".  Oh well...we
    get the idea.
    
    Burns
    

	Re: last few

	I didn't think that the quote was attributed to Glenn, rather Shepard.
So I looked it up. I have that Shepard's first words were "Roger, lift-off
and the clock is started".  The first words uttered by Glenn were "The clock
is operating. We're under way!". 

Susan

    re: .6
    
    Thanks for looking this up.  Clearly my memory has faded with time.
    I cannot now distinguish the Sheppard flight from the Glenn flight.
        John Sauter

    It was Shepard. According to 'Manned Spaceflight' (Baker, 1985), the
    quote is "Ah roger, lift-off and the clock has started".
    
    If I remember correctly, the the clock in question had been a source of
    problems during testing and Shepard was telling the support crew that
    it actually worked for a change. The press jumped on it and it became a
    sort of in joke.
    
    One of the odd things that history records. Imagine if Neil Armstrong's
    first words as he stepped off the LM were "Ooops!".
    
    gary

  Oddly enough, Armstrong was worried about saying "Ooops", but it was just
after liftoff, not on the Moon. As I remember in Collins book "Carrying the
Fire" he mentioned that as commander flying in the left seat, Armstrong had
access to a attitude control stick that was set up during launch so that in the
event of an emergency it could activate the escape tower. By turning and moving
the stick, the escape tower would pull the command module away from the Saturn
V / service module stack. Armstrong was afraid that he would bump the stick and
be remembered for saying "oops" as the command module flew away from the launch
vehicle. 

  By the way, I highly recommend Collins' book. It picks up where Tom Wolf's
"Right Stuff" leaves off and tells the story from the astronauts point of view
of the Gemini program, the early Apollo flights, right through Apollo 11. 

  Now to get back on track, what did Gus Grissom say just after liftoff on the
2nd Mercury flight?

  George

    Re. .9
    
    Hmmmm, I'll hafta check my Time-Life recording to be sure...
    
    I believe Grissom's flight began like this:
    
    Grissom: "This is Liberty Bell Seven; the clock is started."
    
    Shepard [CAPCOM]: "Loud and clear, Jose - don't cry too much!"
    
    Grissom: "Okey-doke  ... (it's) a nice ride up till now...."
    
    						--Eric--
    
    P.S. 100 quatloos to anyone who can elaborate on the "Jose" reference.
    	;^)  ;^)  ;^)  ;^)

    I guess, I get 100 quatloos, although it isn't even hard.
    
    Jose Himinez was an 'astronaut' skit on Ed Sullivan.  I'm too young,
    but apparently it was quite humorous.
    
    Tony

I can, but I can't spell (or correctly recall) the details.

Jose refers to a character "Jose Himenez"(?) created by a hispanic comic
(Bill ?).   He was a real favorite of the original 7 astronauts, and especially
of Grissom.   [I'll probably be unable to get to sleep tonight trying to
fill in the details ... *thanks*]



- dave

    
    The "Jose Jiminez" comedian was (is) Bill Dana.
    

I think the comic's name was Bill Dana.

I recall, though it could be getting mixed up  with the movie "The Right Stuff",
that it was Shepard that was known for immitations of Bill Dana's act.

I am old enough to remember (grumble).

	-SES

    Bill Dana even had his own TV show for awhile.  One of the regulars on
    the show was Don Adams (This was before "Get Smart").
    
    Now I feel really old...

    Re. last few
    
    Congratulations!  Your Provider is pleased with your performances! ;^)
    
    To give a bit of background, comedy writer Bill Dana created the
    character Jose Jimenez as part of his nightclub act.  Early in the
    space program, Mr. Dana wrote a sketch with Jose Jimenez as "The
    Reluctant Astronaut" - a wistful, please-don't-send-ME Hispanic
    pilot who was pretty much the antithesis of the "right-stuff" types.
    The "Reluctant Astronaut" sketch was successful enough in nightclubs
    that it became the subject of a Capitol record album (and led to the
    Ed Sullivan appearance that was seen in the movie "The Right Stuff").
    Somewhere along the way, it was Al Shepard who discovered Bill Dana
    and adopted Jose as the unofficial "Eighth Astronaut" - to relieve
    tension and provide a laugh where needed.
    
    I have a photo in a Time-Life album showing Bill Dana in a nightclub;
    John Glenn is to his left holding a microphone (obviously doing the
    part of the "reporter") and to his right are Al Shepard, Deke Slayton
    and Wally Schirra cracking up over some comment of Bill's.  It's price-
    less!
    
    Before we return you to the rathole in progress, be advised that Bill
    Dana (and NOT Don Adams) was responsible for the phrases "Would you
    believe..?" and "Sorry about that..." that became trademarks of the
    show "Get Smart!"
    
    Grins.
    
    						--Eric--
    
    Reporter: "I've been noticing this, Mr. Jimenez.  What is this called,
    	a 'crash helmet'?"
    
    Jose: (pause) "....oooooh, I HOPE not...."

        Space Patch Collector's Club
        P.O. Box 17310
        Pittsburg, PA 15235-0310
        U.S.A.