Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight (49 page)

The man who was counted among the Air Force’s best test pilots said honestly, “Our success was largely due to Neil having paved the way,” and Precourt’s praise for Neil Armstrong didn’t stop there. The chief astronaut went on to say:

Charlie Precourt commanded two dockings with Mir and is seen here driving the shuttle to a perfect arrival with the Russian space station. (NASA)

In the astronaut office of the shuttle era, we all admired Neil’s accomplishments as a pilot. We had all been inspired to pursue careers in aerospace and strive to become astronauts watching the first moon landing in 1969. Neil’s abilities as a pilot were what we all aspired to.

But what was most amazing to us was how well he performed as a pilot on so many “firsts.” We all knew it was challenging enough to fly a spacecraft even on flights downstream of the first, but Neil made all his firsts look like he’d been there many times. And yet as inspiring as Neil was to us as pilots, perhaps most inspiring to those of us who flew as shuttle astronauts was Neil’s character and humility. He never wanted to talk about Neil. He would always vector the conversation to the team, and the lessons of the mission, or the machines. His eyes would light up whenever the conversation was about comparing experiences with different aircraft. Neil was the ultimate example of a gentleman, and we all looked up to him for his strength of character.

The space shuttle and Mir securely docked. (NASA)

Other astronauts also like to tell stories about Neil, like the time retired astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz had been asked to give a talk on his work on a plasma propulsion system during one of the astronaut reunions. Plasma propulsion many feel is the gateway to interplanetary travel. Chang-Diaz remembers, “After the briefing, while I was packing up my computer, one of the attendees came to me and said, ‘Hi, I’m Neil Armstrong. I really enjoyed your presentation and I am glad you are working on this—it is what we need to get to Mars.’ My jaw dropped. I actually had never had the opportunity to meet one of my all-time heroes. I found myself at loss for words.”

Similarly, shuttle commander Brian Duffy relates being with Neil at the 30-year reunion of the
Gemini 8
team in Houston, an experience that made a real impression: “I had heard that Neil was a fairly private person who avoided the limelight that accompanied his feats,” Duffy said:

I was not disappointed to learn firsthand that he was exactly that, but very personable as well. The reunion brought people who had worked together as a great team, and let them reconnect after many years. Neil was wearing a lightweight summer suit because of the heat, and his eyeglasses had large lenses that tinted automatically in the bright daylight. He made some brief remarks to the mostly older assembled group, and they ate up every word he said. He was obviously very respected by all.

After a few hours, it was time for him to head to the airport for his evening flight home. We proceeded to the counter for Neil to check in. The young lady behind the counter, perhaps in her early twenties, took the reservation Neil handed her and proceeded to print out a boarding pass. From the side, I was watching for any sign that the young woman recognized perhaps the most well-known name in the world as the gentleman with the tinted glasses and old briefcase that stood in front of her. There was nothing. No recognition. She calmly folded the boarding pass and documents and handed them back over the counter to Neil and said, “Have a nice flight Mr. Armstrong.” Neil softly said, “Thank you,” and picked up his things. Respecting Neil’s humility, I never said anything to the agent; not that I didn’t want to let her know whom she’d just met!

Charlie Precourt added:

For those of us fortunate enough to have flown the space shuttle, Neil Armstrong was our inspiration, our role model, and the pride of our astronaut corps. It would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate representative of humankind to be our first to set foot on the moon. He accomplished the mission with the highest level of skill and has since represented all of those who contributed to that feat with the greatest of humility and dignity.

One of my most rewarding assignments was when I was privileged to select, train, and work with many shuttle and International Space Station crews. All had their own particular challenges to prepare for missions. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that whenever we would question ourselves about how to handle a situation, in flying or in life, we had Neil’s example to lean on.

*   *   *

Space shuttle trips into space were running like a well-oiled clock when Neil began needling his jungle training buddy John Glenn. Neil knew the old space icon was getting restless, knew he had wanted to go back into space since Kennedy grounded him for being too much of a hero. “Now’s the time for you to go, John,” Neil said. “You’re a big bad United States Senator. Who’s going to stop you?” Neil teased.

John finally decided Neil was right. He’d had enough of Washington politics, and had retired from the United States Senate after serving 24 years. But there was one small problem! John was 77 years old. Many asked, “Can a septuagenarian handle it?”

“That’s precisely the point,” argued John. “I should go up and let the scientists take a look at this aged body, see if seniors can function better in space than here in the gravity of Earth.”

Chief astronaut Charlie Precourt smiled and gave his okay and NASA Administrator Dan Goldin gave John the green light. Space shuttle
Discovery
’s Commander Curt Brown and its pilot Steve Lindsey welcomed the shining knight of earlier years with open arms, and the spaceport swelled with grey-haired pride.

On October 29, 1998, anchor Brian Williams and this old broadcaster were before the NBC cameras reporting John Glenn’s launch into a blue and happy sky. Neil and I and those who admired and loved John Glenn were never more proud. We prayed and wished him luck and spent nine days watching this 77-year-old never miss a step.

In orbit John proved to be the champ we all knew he was by taking care of his assignments, having fun, and doing a little rocking and singing. Commander Curt Brown reported, “Let the record show John has a smile on his face and it goes from ear to ear.”

Glenn took the microphone and added, “Hello, Houston. This is PS 2. They sprung me out of the mid-deck for a little while. This is beautiful. The best part—zero G—and I feel fine,” same as he said from
Friendship 7
on America’s first orbit 36 years earlier.

Medical research during Glenn’s mission included a battery of tests on John to research how the absence of gravity affects balance and perception. The research also took a long look at the immune system response, bone and muscle density, metabolism, blood flow, and sleep.

John Glenn’s second flight at age 77 did much for extending the retirement age. On November 7, 1998, at 12:04
P.M.
, eastern time, John Glenn and crew aboard
Discovery
touched down on its Florida landing strip.

John Glenn, 77, training for his space shuttle flight. (NASA)

Less than an hour later, with all housekeeping chores completed, John Glenn strolled off the shuttle
Discovery
seemingly without a care in the world. The lack of gravity in space weakens astronauts’ arms and legs, and it takes some, even those in their thirties, days to return to normal. It was believed that Glenn would need a wheelchair.

Well, forget about it! John walked by me and winked, and I hit a smart salute and hid a couple of tears. He’d just brought us aged ones hope we could keep on marching through life with purpose.

Neil had no better friend than John Glenn and when he saw John doing his “nine-day spaceflight walkaround inspection” only an hour after landing, Neil didn’t stop smiling for days.

An hour after landing from his nine-day spaceflight, Chief Astronaut Charlie Precourt and NASA Administrator Dan Goldin match John Glenn stride for stride for his crew walkaround inspection. (NASA)

*   *   *

But in spite of the joy John Glenn’s second flight brought him, the last decade of the twentieth century wasn’t without its unhappiness. Neil spent most of it with family when all wasn’t well between him and Janet. They’d grown apart, and on April 2, 1994, his wife of nearly four decades divorced him. For five years he was lost until he met and married Carol Knight, a widow. They set up housekeeping in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill.

About the only thing Neil ever said to me about Carol was he knew he wasn’t in her league. She has a smile as wide as Ohio and warmth as big as Texas. No person ever met Carol that didn’t like and appreciate this beautiful addition to our species.

Carol and Neil were introduced and taken to dinner by mutual friends. Neil being Neil took his own sweet time getting back to Carol. Hell, he’d decided to propose to Janet two years before he asked. When it came to Carol, he kept asking himself why this magnificent woman would be interested in an old worn-out pilot like me.

He could not come up with a plausible answer, but he couldn’t forget her, either. He finally phoned. Quietly he said, “Hello, this is Neil.”

“Neil, who,” she answered in a rush.

Embarrassed, Neil reminded her who he was. She immediately told him she and her son were having trouble cutting a tree down in their backyard and she didn’t have time to talk. Neil, realizing he could be a hero to the rescue, spoke up excitedly saying, “I can take care of that.”

Carol rushed her good-bye and ran back to the job at hand.

Only minutes had passed when there was a ring at Carol’s door. Her son answered, only to run back to his mother, shouting, “Mom, you’re not going to believe who’s at the front door with a chain saw.”

Neil immediately sensed the teen’s reaction had something to do with
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Carol had not told her son she and Neil had been to dinner with friends and that he was coming over to help with the tree.

*   *   *

Carol and Neil would have 14 years together during which the century turned, and Neil was glad to see construction was moving ahead on the International Space Station.