Author Topic: David Scott  (Read 9198 times)

Offline Bob B.

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David Scott
« on: May 23, 2012, 12:12:49 PM »
I saw David Scott deliver a talk last night at the USAF museum.  He spoke about his career in the airforce and as an astronaut.  He talked mostly about Apollo 15, as you would expect.  He seemed like a really cool guy, I enjoyed listening to him.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=19177

Offline Al Johnston

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2012, 04:29:15 AM »
The book he wrote with Alexei Leonov is very good too  :D
"Cheer up!" they said. "It could be worse!" they said.
So I did.
And it was.

Offline BertL

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2012, 06:36:18 AM »
Awesome! Did he say much about his Gemini flight and Apollo 9? Also, did you get a chance to meet him?

Offline Bob B.

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2012, 10:19:45 AM »
The book he wrote with Alexei Leonov is very good too  :D

I've read that book and found it good.  Honestly, I found the Alexei Leonov more interesting than the David Scott part, but that is likely because I was less familiar with the Soviet story so there was more to learn from it.

Near the end of the talk, Col. Scott plugged the book and talked briefly about meeting Alexei Leonov.  When they first met, Leonov broke the ice with a joke, which Scott repeated to the audience.  Col. Scott also talked about another story from the book, when he and Neil Armstrong represented NASA at the Paris airshow c.1967.  There were also a couple Soviet cosmonauts at the airshow, though he and Armstrong were advised to avoid having contact with them.  Nonetheless, when an opportunity came up to meet the cosmonauts, they took it.  One serious looking cosmonaut whisked Scott and Armstrong away to a private area, but once they got there, the vodka started flowing.  The cosmonauts ended up being good guys just like themselves and they had a good time drinking and talking.

Offline Bob B.

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2012, 10:38:07 AM »
Awesome! Did he say much about his Gemini flight and Apollo 9? Also, did you get a chance to meet him?

He did talk about his Gemini 8 and Apollo 9 experience, though only briefly.  He just gave a summary of the goals of each mission and what happened.  I don't think there was anything he said about the missions that I didn't already know, though it was great hearing it from him directly.  Most of the time was spent talking about Apollo 15.  He spoke quite a bit about the landing site and his surface explorations.

Unfortunately there was no chance to meet him.  He had engagement on the east coast the next day and had a flight to catch.  We were actually asked to stay in our seats for a few minutes so Col. Scott could make his getaway without having to deal with a crowd.

Offline ka9q

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2012, 12:26:50 PM »
Unfortunately there was no chance to meet him.  He had engagement on the east coast the next day and had a flight to catch.
Too bad NASA doesn't provide retired astronauts with personal T-38 transportation. Imagine all the travel time you could save by not having to deal with the TSA.

Offline Obviousman

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2012, 05:17:15 AM »
I have to admit, after reading Al Worden's book my esteem for the man has dropped. There were various rumours about but I just put them down to a little jealousy, what with COL Scott being a technical advisor on a few programmes.

Offline Glom

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2012, 12:35:13 PM »
I have to admit, after reading Al Worden's book my esteem for the man has dropped. There were various rumours about but I just put them down to a little jealousy, what with COL Scott being a technical advisor on a few programmes.

Please elaborate.

Offline Obviousman

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Re: David Scott
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2012, 03:01:16 AM »
Specifically his treatment of his other crew members during the "stamp scandal".