Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon

Re:Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon by dotancohen on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @04:02AM (#19907643)

I'm not aware of that story, but there is much speculation about why Yeager was never selected for the astronaut corps. His biography (I haven't read it yet, it's second-to-next on my shelf) specifically mentions that Chuck "had the right stuff" which during the Mercury time was code word for "good enough to be an astronaut".

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Re:Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon by lmm on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @05:54AM (#19908115)

I thought it was explicitly just that he didn't have a college degree? Or is there more to it than that?

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Re:Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon by alistairSH on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @09:36AM (#19909299)

In his own words:

JC: Any regrets you were never selected by NASA as an astronaut?

CY: In order to get into the space program, you had to have a degree. I only had a high school education. In the early Mercury program, everything was done from the Cape [Kennedy] anyway. The guys didn’t have a hell of a lot of control, and that to me isn’t flying. I wasn’t interested.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/01/23/chuck-yeage...

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Re:Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon by dotancohen on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @08:21AM (#19908798)

I'll know as soon as I finish the book!

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Re:Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon by throwaway55554 on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @10:18AM (#19909691)

> Q: Why didn't NASA ever select you to become an astronaut? A: They knew I didn't want to wipe the monkey crap off the seat before I sat down

Edit: https://twitter.com/genchuckyeager/status/918320874947715074...

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