In Memoriam

[MID]

RIP Sir Arthur.

Ditto.

RIP Sir Arthur, I shall miss you deeply.

[ships-cat]

Nooooooooooooo

A bit of my Kittenhood just died. I remember Rendevouz with Rama, and how it opened my reading horizons...

Well.... Mr. C. has a rendevouz of his own. Bon Voyage...

Two Thousand and one

You wrote, but delayed untill

two thousand and eight.

Meow Purr

Edited March 19, 2008 by ships-cat

[Dan'O]

Science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who co-wrote the epic film "2001: A Space Odyssey" and raised the idea of communications satellites in the 1940s, died Wednesday at age 90, an associate confirmed. Clarke died early Wednesday at a hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since the 1950s, said Scott Chase, the secretary of the nonprofit Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. "He had been taken to hospital in what we had hoped was one of the slings and arrows of being 90, but in this case it was his final visit," Chase said.

http://www.arthurcclarke.net/

[Dan'O]

Didn't see this one cat...

Sad, sad news indeed.

[isis-999]

I was just reading about this on MSN new's, It's very sad indeed..

RIP..

[IamsSon]

One of the authors who took me through high school. He will be missed.

[Magikman]

A sad day indeed, 'Childhood's End' started me on my journey into devouring science fiction literature.

RIP Sir Arthur

[~ MacDDT ~]

Not good news, he will be missed

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I remember Rendevouz with Rama, and how it opened my reading horizons...

'Childhood's End' started me on my journey into devouring science fiction literature.

I can't remember which of his novels or short stories I first read, but his books are part of the reason I have such a fascination (along with my earliest memory being Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon) with astronomy and spaceflight. As such, this man that I never met, helped shape my life.

Edited March 19, 2008 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Emma_Acid]

Nooooooooooooo

A bit of my Kittenhood just died. I remember Rendevouz with Rama, and how it opened my reading horizons...

I found the rama books in my grandpa's study when I was about 12, zipped through all of them in a matter of months - I think they were the first "grown up" books I ever read....

[The Maharaja]

Once opon a time there was a little disabled kid who got to meet one of his science HERO,S he never forgot that day and he never ever will

"Good night sweet prince"

"may the wings of angels take you to your sleep"

R.I.P

[MID]

I found the rama books in my grandpa's study when I was about 12, zipped through all of them in a matter of months - I think they were the first "grown up" books I ever read....

I just knew you read alot...

Your astuteness and rational skills reveal that. To be reading Sir Arthur's Rama books at age 12, and zipping through them in a matter of months says alot...a lot.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Statement on the Death of Arthur C. Clarke

The press release is reproduced below:

March 19, 2008

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 08-083

NASA Statement on the Death of Arthur C. Clarke

WASHINGTON - The following is a statement from Alan Stern, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington, regarding the death of Arthur C. Clarke:

"Arthur Clarke was a gifted writer of science and science fiction, and an unparalleled visionary of the future, inspiring countless young people throughout the middle and later 20th century with his hopeful vision of how spaceflight would transform societies, economies, and humankind itself.

"Although his personal odyssey here on Earth is now over, his vision lives on through his writing; he will be sorely missed."

-end -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: NASA Press Release 08-061

[Mekorig]

Rest in Peace Arthur C. Clarke. I could not aproved some action in your life, from my personal point of view, but you were part of a very special caste within humankind, those who imagine the future.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

More on Sir Arthur from BBC News.

Conversations with a science visionary

In quotes: Sir Arthur C Clarke tributes

Arthur C Clarke: predictions

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Former Soviet cosmonaut Konstantin Feoktistov dies

The USSR's first civilian cosmonaut Konstantin Feoktistov, a crew member of the Voskhod spaceship in 1964, has died in Moscow aged 83, Russian media say.

Feoktistov also designed and tested spaceships himself, and has a crater on the Moon named after him.

Full story: BBC News

Feoktistov played a very important role in the early development of manned spaceflight. As well as being the first civilian to fly in space on Voskhod 1 (launched 12^th October 1964) he was also, under the leadership of Sergey Korolev, heavily involved in the design of the Vostok spacecraft, the modification of Vostok into the Voskhod vehicle and in the Soyuz spacecraft which is still flying to this day.

Rest in peace Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Waspie_Dwarf

[MID]

Full story: BBC News

Feoktistov played a very important role in the early development of manned spaceflight. As well as being the first civilian to fly in space on Voskhod 1 (launched 12^th October 1964) he was also, under the leadership of Sergey Korolev, heavily involved in the design of the Vostok spacecraft, the modification of Vostok into the Voskhod vehicle and in the Soyuz spacecraft which is still flying to this day.

Rest in peace Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov.

Rest in peace, comrade!

FEOKTISTOV...on the far side.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

McCall Mourned by Aerospace Community, Space Enthusiasts

01 March 2010

Dr. Robert McCall, celebrated painter and long-time contributor to the nation's aerospace fine arts programs, died on February 26. McCall spent much of his career documenting and artistically translating Americas space program for the public.

Source: NASA Channel - YouTube

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Pioneer Aaron Cohen Dead at 79

02 March 2010

Spaceflight pioneer Aaron Cohen, a former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, died Thursday, Feb. 25 after a lengthy illness. He was 79. Cohen's 33-year career with NASA included key leadership roles critical to the success of the Apollo and shuttle programs. As director, his steady hand at the helm of Johnson helped NASA recover from the shuttle Challenger tragedy and return the space shuttle to flight.

Source: NASA Channel - YouTube

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Rembering NASA's First Senior Photographer

02 March 2010

As NASA's first senior photographer, Bill Taub covered every major agency event from the beginning of the Mercury project through the end of Apollo, giving the public a firsthand look at what NASA was about during those early days. Bill Taub died on Feb. 20, 2010. He was 86 years old.

Source: NASA Channel - YouTube

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Maj. Gen. Robert White, Former X-15 pilot, Dies at 85

03.25.10

Maj. Gen. Robert M. White, a former commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base who earned his astronaut wings as a test pilot in the X-15 rocket plane in the early 1960s, has died. He was 85.

White had been in declining health, and passed away peacefully March 17 at an assisted living facility in Orlando, Fla.

Four of the five surviving X-15 pilots

gathered at NASA's Dryden Flight

Research Center in August 2005 when

astronaut wings were presented to the

three NASA pilots who flew the X-15

rocket plane into space in the 1960s

-- Bill Dana, Joe Walker (deceased)

and Jack McKay (deceased). From left,

Robert White, Dana, Neil Armstrong,

Joe Engle. White died March 17, 2010

at the age of 85.

(NASA photo / Tony Landis)

White was one of the initial pilots selected for the X-15 program, assigned by the Air Force as its chief X-15 pilot in the joint program with NASA, the Navy, and North American Aviation. Between April 1960 and December 1962, he made 16 flights in the rocket-powered aircraft. He was the first pilot to fly to Mach 4, 5, and 6 (four, five and six times the speed of sound, respectively). He also flew the X-15 to the altitude of 314,750 feet on July 17, 1962, setting a world altitude record. This was 59.6 miles, significantly higher than the 50 miles the Air Force accepted as the beginning of space, qualifying White for Air Force astronaut wings. His flights into the stratosphere, and those of other X-15 pilots, were forerunners of the space shuttle program that would follow years later, and demonstrated that a winged craft could travel and be controlled in space.

White entered the military in 1942 as an aviation cadet and was commissioned as a pilot in 1944 during World War II. His P-51 fighter plane was shot down over Germany in early 1945, and he spent a couple of months in a prisoner of war camp before being liberated.

Then-Major Robert M. White is seen here

next to the X-15 aircraft after a research

flight in 1961.

(Air Force photo))

He also flew combat missions during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and commanded the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards for several years in the early 1970s, a decade after his pioneering high-speed, high-altitude X-15 flights. White retired from the Air Force in 1981.

White returned to Edwards in 2005 to join other former X-15 pilots and astronauts Neil Armstrong and Maj. Gen. Joe Engle at an astronaut wings pinning ceremony for former NASA X-15 research pilot William F. Dana at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center.

Source: NASA - Dryden - Features

[MID]

NASA Pioneer Aaron Cohen Dead at 79

02 March 2010

Spaceflight pioneer Aaron Cohen, a former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, died Thursday, Feb. 25 after a lengthy illness. He was 79. Cohen's 33-year career with NASA included key leadership roles critical to the success of the Apollo and shuttle programs. As director, his steady hand at the helm of Johnson helped NASA recover from the shuttle Challenger tragedy and return the space shuttle to flight.

Source: NASA Channel - YouTube

40 years ago, Aaron Cohen was, I believe, the Apollo CSM Program Chief. He directed some very tight timeframed solutions to very complex problems with his teams from North American during the Apollo 13 flight.

This man was one of the heroes of our manned space program. God bless, Mr. Cohen...

[Waspie_Dwarf]

This man was one of the heroes of our manned space program.

One of many MID.

Earlier today I merged this thread. Previously each of these individuals had a small thread of their own. Each thread rapidly swallowed up in this section. I decided that by merging them into one, larger thread that it would be more prominent, more easily found and so the passing of these men and women would be noticed by more readers of this section. All of them here, astronomers, writers, artists, engineers, test pilot and astronauts have, in some way, contributed to man's exploration and understanding of the universe.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.

[MID]

One of many MID.

Concur.

Earlier today I merged this thread. Previously each of these individuals had a small thread of their own. Each thread rapidly swallowed up in this section. I decided that by merging them into one, larger thread that it would be more prominent, more easily found and so the passing of these men and women would be noticed by more readers of this section. All of them here, astronomers, writers, artists, engineers, test pilot and astronauts have, in some way, contributed to man's exploration and understanding of the universe.

It's a great idea.

...somewhat saddening, personally, but a wonderful idea to pay tribute to these poeple who did so much...

[DONTEATUS]

I want to Thank you Guys for Keeping the memorys With us in here ! Im saveing all of these post !