That Time I Drank with Gene Cernan, the Last Man on the Moon

Cernan from the Gemini 9 crew portrait, with those icy blue eyes… Credit: NASA

In all his official NASA portraits, Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan looks slightly terrifying. All the Apollo-era astronauts were photographed unsmiling, almost like they were trying to confirm to tax paying Americans that these national heroes took their jobs deadly seriously. But Cernan somehow looks more serious than most; he looks like a man with a natural commanding physical presence. In November of 2013 I found myself in a bar with Gene Cernan, and though he was closing in on 79 at the time, he still had that cold, icy stare from his official portraits half a century earlier. It was exactly the quietly commanding presence I’d always imagined he’d have. That wasn’t the only time I met the last man on the Moon, but with the news of his passing today, I thought it worth sharing that super weird night I went to a bar with Gene Cernan. 

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Would NASA Tell Us About Alien Contact?

Humans don’t always have the most rational or measured responses to technological innovation or even change. This isn’t recent revelation about people; NASA knew this very early in its history and also knew it would have to consider the impacts space exploration would have on the wider American public. And so, in 1959, the agency contracted public policy organization the Brookings Institution to design a long-term research program into the social, economic, political, legal, and international implications of space exploration. And also what to do if it found alien life.

Can a Wood Heat Shield Really Work?

About two years ago I geeked out pretty hard when I was invited to a B612 foundation event at Steve Jurvetson’s office. Not only is the space filled with the most incredible collection of space memorabilia you can possibly imagine, there were astronauts in attendance. Including Ed Lu, a three-time astronaut and all- around lovely guy. And in the course of cocktail conversation he told me about the strangest technological innovation I’d ever heard of: China’s wooden heat shield. And I finally looked into the story!

What’s the Best Kind of Rocket Fuel?

The Saturn V starts leaving the Earth. (NASA)

Generally speaking, a rocket is a rocket, and rocket science is really just a matter of controlling and harnessing a fast expansion of gas to turn it into propulsion. But there are different kinds of propulsion for different kinds of rockets, and some have benefits over others depending on where you’re going. 

Vintage Space is Back!

Hello everyone who probably thought they’d never get an update from this blog ever again… surprise! Vintage Space joined Popular Science’s blog network when it launched two years ago, and I loved being a part of an awesome network at an amazing place, but we got some sad news a couple of weeks ago: the Editor-in-Chief has decided to shut down the blog network. I’m looking for a new home for Vintage Space, but in the meantime I’m coming back to my roots at this WordPress site that can’t be hacked like my last one was!

And of course, there are tons of other places to find my work online! The biggest one, by far, is my YouTube channel. It’s the companion to this blog with short videos about topics I dig into in longer articles. You can also find my daily on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and podcast coming soon via Radio Misfits! You can, of course, also find my first book, Breaking the Chains of Gravity on Amazon or signed on my website. And if you love Vintage Space in all its incarnations you can help me make even more great content by supporting my Patreon!

So be sure to subscribe to this blog for all the updates and new posts, and of course if I have any news about exciting upcoming events or a new home for Vintage Space I’ll be posting it here. The Vintage Space archive from PopSci will stay online, so I’ll urge you guys to check that out instead of the now-embarrassingly old posts archived here… Oh the joys of having everything archived as you become a better writer!

See you wonderful readers around the Internets!

Vintage Space’s New Home

Vintage Space has moved! I’ve finally built my own website at www.amyshirateitel.com and my blog is now hosted there at www.amyshirateitel.com/vintagespace – the labeled picture of Charlie Duke (left) is linked to Vintage Space on my new homepage. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to move email and wordpress.com subscribers over to my new site. So, to keep getting regular space history articles and tidbits from Vintage Space, follow the link to my blog’s new home and resubscribe. And while you’re there, check out my latest article about the EVA (spacewalk) that came as a surprise to the American public and most of NASA.

Carnival of Space #239

Another week, another Carnival of Space! Some neat things happening in the universe with some gorgeous pictures, so let’s get started. (This week’s fun and unrelated space image is Homer Jay Simpson, chasing down a rogue potato chip while an incensed Buzz Aldrin looks on. Homer was one of NASA’s heaviest astronauts weighing in at 239 pounds. Source.)

Vintage Space Fun Fact: the 900-pound Cake

Everybody wanted to be a part of the celebration of John Glenn’s return, including Henri Landwirth. Polish born Landwirth, a holocaust survivor, arrived in Miami Beach in 1954. He began managing the Starlight Motel that was quickly a hit with NASA personnel who worked hard and played harder in Florida. It was through his motel that Landwirth met and struck up a friendship with the Mercury astronauts. When it came time for NASA to launch John Glenn into orbit, Landwirth marked the occasion with a custom made cake the size and shape of a Mercury capsule. (Left, Landwirth with the Friendship 7 cake in January, 1962.)

Carnival of Space #232

It’s time for another Carnival of Space! Articles this week cover topics from our own planet to other worlds light years away, and from past events to future endeavours. There’s a lot to think about this week. (This Carnival’s unrelated fun photo: Joe Kerwin give Pete Conrad a dental checkup during the Skylab 2 mission in 1973. This looks like a much easier, and more fun, way to have your teeth cleaned than having a dentist reaching over you and moving your head around for a half hour.)

Vintage Space Fun Fact: The Overshadowed Arrow

In the 1950s, Canada was as much at risk of nuclear attack as was the United States; the country lies in the direct path of any Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) the Soviet Union could launch over the North Pole towards a US target. To protect the nation, the Avro Aircraft Company designed the Arrow, a high speed interceptor aircraft. But the Arrow was nearing extinction before it even left the ground. (The Avro Arrow. Image credit: The Canadian Department of National Defence.)