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John Glenn has died

dispatch.com

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Re: John Glenn has died

#121

Post by thecrazyone »

photogrammetry wrote: post #40
viewer5 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind talking about your passion for radio? It's not something I've really thought about (beyond a general, taking-it-for-granted "hey this is handy, I'm glad we have this in our repertoire of technology"), so I'd love to hear about your love.

Kind of a weird comment. Is this a writing prompt, or do you really talk to people in the "I'd love to hear about your love" manner? Radio is awesome because of how awesome it is. Check out the new startup, google.com, if you want to find some more material about why.

@photogrammetry You could've been kinder. If that seemed "weird" to you, You could've just ignored it and moved on, as the comment was harmless.

PS:Not to preach, but just saying.

Re: John Glenn has died

#122

Post by thecrazyone »

bpodgursky wrote: post #98
dragonwriter wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> John Glen orbited the earth in 1962, in the middle of all this. And almost entirely because of it; the U.S. space program didn't evolve independently of, or in tension with, the fear of Communism.

Yeah. Having a common fear or enemy is often the _cause_ for optimism and rallying around common goals. It's stupid to suggest that fear prevents us from striving for great things.

Chill out man, no need to be so judgemental (in reference to you calling things stupid)

Re: John Glenn has died

#123

Post by fsck--off »

Waterluvian wrote: post #84
ChuckMcM wrote: post #60

This deserves a black bar (IMO) John Glenn was very influential on me as a student. He gave a talk at my high school about how learning as much as you could prepared you for the unexpected. He certainly put that to the test (as all of the astronauts then and now) do. The stakes are high, the resources limited, and time for a solution is finite. God speed John Glenn.

What's a black bar?

It's a black line 1px high at the top of the page above the orange bar. Here's a snapshot of it from 2011:

https://web.archive.org/web/20111006184954/http://news.ycomb...

Re: John Glenn has died

#125

Post by cmdrfred »

SEJeff wrote: post #58
Amorymeltzer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've got to read The Right Stuff[1], it's fantastic. Tom Wolfe paints the ethos of the era perfectly, and if you have any interest in this period, early NASA, or the guys themselves it's a must-read. I'd also recommend Chuck Yeager's autobiography[2] as another fantastic read that gives you a feel for what life was like for elite test pilots. 1: https://smile.amazon.com/Right-Stuff-Tom-Wolfe/dp/0312427565... 2: htt…

Speaking of Chuck Yeager, he's quite active on Twitter and has some really funny responses to random questions people send him. https://twitter.com/GenChuckYeager For those that don't know, he is a WWII P-51 Mustang fighter ace and famous test pilot. He was the first pilot to break the speed of sound. Really amazing guy.

Chuck Yeager - 47 Thousand followers

Kayne West - 26 Million

That tells me everything I need to know about Twitter.

Q: @GenChuckYeager How big a deal was it that Hughes flew the spruce goose by himself?

A: Wasn't to me

Re: John Glenn has died

#126

Post by jlgaddis »

SEJeff wrote: post #56
jjcm wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I certainly wont complain if we do put up a black bar for Glenn, but at the same time I feel like the black bar should represent a death of someone who directly contributed or was actively a part of the hacker community. While Glenn was immensely inspirational, he never really felt like a part of who we are.

I couldn't (respectfully) disagree more. He has inspired a generation of us, myself included. My grandmother used to lead the Indianapolis Aero Club and somehow managed to get him as a speaker. My parents made the 2ish hour drive up just for me to hear one of my heros, Col John Glenn, talk for ~30 minutes (I was maybe 12-13 at the time?). While I did not ultimately achieve my dream of being an astronaut like him, I d…

It seems weird to "run into" someone from the same area here on HN (I grew up about two hours "down" from Indianapolis) -- it certainly isn't exactly a booming high-tech area!

Re: John Glenn has died

#127

Post by _JamesA_ »

thechao wrote: post #77
butter_NUT wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, in what world is Clear Lake TX out in the middle of nowhere??

In the '90s it was ... sort of out there. Especially getting all the way down NASA Rd1---it was at least 20 minutes combined getting down 45 and out to JSC. A lot of the astronauts lived in El Lago, Seabrook, etc., which definitely were way out there.

If only it took 20 minutes now.

I used to visit JSC several times a year in the 80's and 90's ... until they locked it down and opened Space Center Houston. It never seemed that far 'out there' coming from the north side outer loop (610) compared to The Woodlands.

OT but it was a pleasure to be able to park and roam the campus and enter most buildings (including Mission Control) on a self guided tour. Space Center Houston is terrible in comparison.

Re: John Glenn has died

#128

Post by devarshar »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #60

This deserves a black bar (IMO) John Glenn was very influential on me as a student. He gave a talk at my high school about how learning as much as you could prepared you for the unexpected. He certainly put that to the test (as all of the astronauts then and now) do. The stakes are high, the resources limited, and time for a solution is finite. God speed John Glenn.

I agree.

Re: John Glenn has died

#129

Post by mmmBacon »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #15
jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

You've got to read The Right Stuff[1], it's fantastic. Tom Wolfe paints the ethos of the era perfectly, and if you have any interest in this period, early NASA, or the guys themselves it's a must-read. I'd also recommend Chuck Yeager's autobiography[2] as another fantastic read that gives you a feel for what life was like for elite test pilots. 1: https://smile.amazon.com/Right-Stuff-Tom-Wolfe/dp/0312427565... 2: htt…

I also recommend the movie the Right Stuff. I saw the movie as a kid and it was really something inspirational to me at the time. Nice little article from Wired about John Glenn's depiction in the movie. https://www.wired.com/2016/12/john-glenn-became-big-screen-h...

Re: John Glenn has died

#130

Post by dpandey »

kumarski wrote: post #110
hackuser wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> humanity has lost the Lee Iacocca of Space Perhaps you could explain the comparison to a somewhat famous car company executive ...

John Glenn was an engineer. Lee Iacocca was an engineer. Elon Musk is not an engineer.

"he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from its College of Arts and Sciences. Musk moved to California to begin a PhD in applied physics and materials science at Stanford University"

maybe not, but pretty technical.

A better example of a non-tech CEO of a tech company is Jack Ma, who was an English teacher.

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