Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

latchkey_adult OP t1_isvybno wrote

He was also on an episode of the Brady Bunch!

83

Girth_rulez t1_isxetno wrote

And there was also a piece of gear named after him in the Lunar Module. The "McDivitt purse." A small canvas bag used to secure items that might otherwise fly around the cabin.

Fun fact: Neil Armstrong squirreled away the "McDivitt purse" from the Eagle, with a lot of cool spacecraft parts in it. He had it at the bottom of his closet and it was not discovered until he died. I think this was a little joke be played on us all.

27

CodeMonkeyPhoto t1_isy2ij4 wrote

Looks like he kept assorted lengths of wire.

8

Girth_rulez t1_it1q8vv wrote

The wires were little lights. There are also some other things, like the film camera used to document the first manned landing on the moon.

1

BoltgunOnHisHip t1_isw2ahm wrote

McDivitt was also on Gemini 4, which was the first US EVA (and the second in history, after Alexei Leonov in Voskhod 2.) He didn't do the EVA himself but piloted the craft while Ed White did his spacewalk.

By the way there are now just 10 people alive who have been beyond Low Earth Orbit. Although McDivitt wasn't one of them, since Apollo 9 was a test flight.

76

mcarterphoto t1_isw7jnx wrote

But he did ride a Saturn V, not just a 1B (Apollo 7 was a 1B, earth orbit test but no LEM, so no giant rocket needed). And an Atlas to boot.

23

SaphirePool t1_iswa4ad wrote

What does EVA stand for in this context?

14

akiralx26 t1_iswc6qz wrote

Extra-vehicular activity I think, i.e. tethered outside the spacecraft.

21

megafari t1_iswmfw2 wrote

Astronauts seem to consistently live a good, long time. Be like an astronaut...curious and healthy!

35

mattmillze t1_iswxrv8 wrote

Being in the top of your age group physically and mentally probably helps. It's really hard to get selected to become an astronaut and requires a lifetime of fitness and study. You have to be exceptional in every way to get into space. It's only in the last decade that money was enough to achieve spaceflight. Before that, only the best and the brightest elite pilots in the greatest air force on planet earth made that cut. (Or whatever Russia does) Here's a list of current requirements to be considered for the Artemis program.

40

MyCollector t1_isx849h wrote

Eagle Scouts. Marathon runners. Champion athletes. The smartest in their math and science classes. Often holding PhDs today or were test pilots in the 60s.

You know how when you create a video game character and spec them out, you can make them intellectual like a wizard but not strong and brawny like a warrior because the game doesn’t give you enough to fill every column up? Astronauts tend to have enough marbles in all the columns.

22

TheRealSpez t1_isxutmo wrote

This is a really good analogy.

I don’t know the exact background of most astronauts, but Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin both had specialized degrees related to aerospace engineering and were incredibly gifted fighter pilots. Additionally, Buzz Aldrin got a doctorate from MIT, and Neil Armstrong was accepted to to there for his bachelor’s, but decided to go to Purdue instead.

They didn’t just choose brutes who may have been able to survive, and they didn’t just choose nerds who could kind of understand what was going on. They found freaks of nature that could do it all and were ready to potentially die miserably with little recourse.

11

Mediumaverageness t1_iswyv0z wrote

Therefore fueling the conspiracy theory denying anyone got past LEO because of radiation risk during flight to the moon.

Edit : I've seen the downvotes ! Just reporting things I've heard, for my part I'm a huge space nerd. Apollo 9 mission badge is on my fridge.

−9

TheSeansei t1_isyh5oc wrote

You get more radiation from 5G just walking down the street /s

3

stocks-mostly-lower t1_iswh6p7 wrote

Rest In Peace and Power, Sir ! Thank you for your service! 🌺🌺🌺

14

cmucodemonkey t1_isxhqfu wrote

Godspeed Commander! Thank you for your contributions to the space program.

7

Atralis t1_isyau24 wrote

It's sad to me that the youngest person that went to the moon is 87. I get that we've made huge progress in other scientific endeavors but I don't think anyone on the last apollo mission 50 years ago imagined that in the next half century they no one would even come close to getting as far from the earth as they did.

6

doughboyniels t1_isxouv8 wrote

Give the guy a pair of dark sunglasss and there’s D.B. Cooper! Or am I the only one seeing it?

3

cryptid_snake88 t1_iszr69e wrote

I'm starting to notice that a lot of astronauts live well into their 90's.... Interesting

1

ChrisJNelson t1_isxuayt wrote

It’d be more interesting if the commander of Apollo 93 died at age 9.

−3