John Young Gone West

[Stitch]

First commander of the Space Shuttle flew west 5 Jan 2018. 

Fast facts: Naval Aviator, flew F-9 Cougars & F-8 Crusaders on fleet tours aboard USS Coral Sea & USS  Forrestal, Navy TPS Grad, 42 year career with NASA, Flew on Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle missions.

From his Wiki page:

John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018) was an American astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He became the ninth person to walk on the Moon as Commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Young enjoyed the longest career of any astronaut, becoming the first person to fly six space missions (with seven launches, counting his lunar liftoff) over the course of 42 years of active NASA service.  He was the only person to have piloted, and been commander of, four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command Module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle.

We don’t make guys like this anymore.

Thoughts and prayers to family and friends.   

Whole Wiki page here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Young_(astronaut)

[Bergman]

Great American!  I remember watching the shuttle launch as a young kid.  One of my heroes (even if he was Navy!)

 

IIRC almost 10,000 hours in the T-38 as well. Damn!  Time to step it up Huggy.

[MCO]

I grew up near John Young Parkway but had no idea who that was or that he was from my city until just a few years ago. Great American.

[HuggyU2]

I didn't realize until I was away at college that his house was less than 1/4 mile from our house.  

One of the greats that is directly responsible for making America what it is.

Bergman:  trying to catch him.  But I think it’s futile 

Edited January 15, 2018 by HuggyU2