Alan Bean....4th man on the moon

This mans passing just reminded me of my uncle Don's contributions to NASA and the legacy he created. My Uncle Don did 4 years in the AF and then went to work for Rockwell. He eventually ended up working for NASA working first in Huntsville Alabama, and then Houston, Texas. He then ended up in Titusville, Florida, where he was the dude that closed the hatch on the Apollo missions among other things. He was there form the beginning and my Aunt Betty has a treasure trove of memorabilia from 30 years of service. He was also the coach of the baseball team and he has patches cut off every spacesuit from every mission. My cousins have birthday cards, signed by every single astronaut throughout the years. Every time I visit her, I dig out all the albums and re-live her experiences of all the launches, parties, and excitement of one of Americas greatest legacies.
RIP Mr. Bean....and RIP Uncle Don.

Thanks for the story about your uncle and pilfering through Aunt Betty’s treasure trove!

RIP Alan Beam

Alan Beam dead at 86

a reply to: lakenheath24

proper ats, thank you

my father in law married his ex wife Sue

all the astronots divorced i think?

At approximately the same time that Alan Bean and Charles Conrad were doing their first EVA on the moon in November 1969, there was a 4.3 earthquake a few dozen miles from my childhood home. I remember running from room to room watching things "magically" move on their own.

Earthquakes are rare in this area, so it's a rather vivid memory for me. The fact that it coincided with the moon landing made it even more memorable.

A rare earthquake while men were walking on the moon made a lot of my more superstitious relatives and neighbors very nervous.


RIP Alan Bean. Thanks for the memory.

-dex

No worries. Its fun to see all the letters. My cousins are a bit blase about it but can you imagine having john glenn and alan shepard among others over at your house for a birthday party? Musta been epic.


a reply to: BeefNoMeat

Dunno, but they were rock stars in the day plus they worked mad hours training so i can imagine. Every picture seems to have a new corvette in it. Lol

a reply to: GBP/JPY

To be fair, I thought Violater's thread was much more informative....mine is just a recollection about a relative who worked on the Mercury and Apollo programs.

A lovely man, it was a pleasure to hear him speak in person.

RIP.

You can still see his foot tracks on the Moon: