Celebrity Death Thread

[Tony G]

Even though NASA knew their launches were taking place in Florida, why weren't the specs for the seal to be at 0 F knowing that it is most unlikely and marked as a red flag for operations?

Two reasons.
1. They ignored repeated lessons like having primary o-rings fail before and then relied on the secondary to work. This would be the equivalent of not having good braking in your car with the pedal, but hey, you've still got the emergency brake handle.

2. NASA tried very hard to sell the shuttle as a routine system. This may eventually come to pass with space travel but we are no where near there now with any orbital system. The pressure to use the "routine" system in a high visibility mission like Teacher In Space added undue pressure on launch control to proceed. Wally Schirra called this "Go Fever" and it was present in all three of NASA's disasters.

[YT]

Tony,

Thanks for doing the research so I didn't have to.

A bit off-subject but Wally Schirra was a hell of a pilot, engineer and the only one of the Mercury 7 to fly Mercury, Gemini & Apollo flights.

The Mercury 7 were probably the most famous group of astronauts, the overall best group of astronauts were the group 2 men brought in midway through the Mercury program. Neil Armstrong & Jim Lovell are probably the most famous names, Pete Conrad, Tom Stafford, John Young & Ed White were no less important to the space program.

You can read all about Group 2 here....

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Astronaut_Group_2"]NASA Astronaut Group 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

[MiamiTreo3]

TREO...., SIT DOWN FFS, STOP FIDGETTING MAN.

It's ok bud, my cousin has it....., he says hes lived his life hearing that.

LOL. At 37, I still have not grown out of it. Everyone at work says I am a really hard worker. In truth I just cant sit sstill.

[Tony G]

A bit off-subject but Wally Schirra was a hell of a pilot, engineer and the only one of the Mercury 7 to fly Mercury, Gemini & Apollo flights.

John Young got to fly Gemini, Apollo flights and the Shuttle making the other bridge pilot

[YT]

John Young got to fly Gemini, Apollo flights and the Shuttle making the other bridge pilot

I was going to point that out in my previous post.

John Young was the 1st NASA astronaut to fly into space 6 times. I could have been 7 as he was Gene Cernan's back-up on Apollo 17. Cernan hurt his knee a coule of months prior to lift-off playing softball. Had the flight surgeon not had cleared Cernan to fly, Young was going back to the moon.

In Deke Slayton's autobiography, he praised John Young, Jim Lovell, Frank Borman and Tom Stafford for their technical expertise, professionalism and adaptability.

NASA (i.e Deke) had a unwritten rule that once you flew as a commander, you wouldn't be bumped down to fly as a CMP or LMP duing Apollo. Although Lovell flew as commander of Gemini 12, Deke seriously thought about having him fly as the LMP on Apollo 11, given Lovell's easy-going nature and ability to get along with everyone.

[The Cat]

Wow....the last few posts in here are fascinating.

[MiamiTreo3]

Former NY mayor and People's cour Judge. Ed Koch

[Tony G]

and 10 years ago today...

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2011/01/31/natpkg.columbia.anniv.2003.cnn

Columbia broke up during reentry.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/tech/2011/06/20/2003.columbia.disaster.2.cnn

[The Cat]

Reports: Author Chris Kyle fatally shot on gun range

6:44a.m. EST February 3, 2013


(Photo: Paul Moseley, AP)
Story Highlights

• Kyle, 38, wrote the best-selling book, "American Sniper"
• He was a former Navy SEAL
• Media: Kyle and a second man were found dead Saturday afternoon

GLEN ROSE, Texas (AP) — Former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle was fatally shot along with another man Saturday on a Texas gun range, a sheriff told local newspapers.
Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Kyle, 38, and a second man were found dead at Rough Creek Lodge's shooting range west of Glen Rose, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Stephenville Empire-Tribune. Glen Rose is about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
Bryant did not immediately return phone calls to The Associated Press seeking comment late Saturday and early Sunday.
Investigators did not immediately release the name of the second victim.
Witnesses told sheriff's investigators that a gunman opened fire on the men around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, then fled in a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims, according to the Star-Telegram. The newspapers said a 25-year-old man was later taken into custody in Lancaster, southeast of Dallas, and that charges were expected.
Lancaster police did not immediately return calls for comment.
The motive for the shooting was unclear.
Kyle wrote the best-selling book, "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History," detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009.
Kyle was sued by former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura over a portion of the book that claims Kyle punched Ventura in a 2006 bar fight over unpatriotic remarks. Ventura says the punch never happened and that the claim by Kyle defamed him.
Kyle had asked that Ventura's claims of invasion of privacy and "unjust enrichment" be dismissed, saying there was no legal basis for them. But a federal judge said the lawsuit should proceed. Both sides were told to be ready for trial by Aug. 1.

[Drew]

This killing is very regretable. RIP to Kyle.

There are those that believe he was the victim of black ops drugging to make him believe the incident with Ventura happened. Ventura denies it, the owner of the bar denies it, there's no police record, and it doesn't fit Ventura's persona in the least to say what Kyle claimed in his book that Ventura said.

And now, the Navy Seals' most prolific marksman is taken by suprise and unprepared by some arbitrary crazy guy, presumably while he was armed?

[The Cat]

Drew. I just don't understand this whole Ventura thing. What's your take?

[Drew]

To the politics forum for my answer, Bill.

[FVD]

Mark Balelo committed suicide yesterday via carbon monoxide poisoning. He appeared on a few episodes.of Storage Wars as a guest bidder.

[CGVT]

Storage Wars Star Mark Balelo Commits Suicide After Drug Arrest
By Sadie Gennis, TV GUIDE
Published 8:13 am, Tuesday, February 12, 2013


Storage Wars star Mark Balelo was found dead Monday of an apparent suicide, TMZ reports. He was 40.



Balelo died from carbon monoxide poisoning in his car after running the vehicle in the garage of his auction house in Simi Valley, Calif.

On Saturday, Balelo had been arrested for a drug-related offense. When he was released from jail, he called his fianc?e because he was afraid of hurting himself, according to TMZ. The pair reportedly met at Balelo's office on Sunday, where they talked for hours before the reality star took a nap, woke up and seemed better. Balelo's fianc?e left him at the office Sunday evening and an employee found his body the next morning, TMZ reports.

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, according to The Ventura County Star.

[*JD*]

Mindy McCready, passed away at age 37. Sounds like it might be an overdose or a suicide.

http://www.eonline.com/news/389186/mindy-mccready-country-singer-dead-at-37