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Re:The curious case of fake NASA geniuses by inopinatus on Sunday September 19, 2021 @09:31PM (#28589563)
Perhaps they're chosen for their ability to cuss like a sailor in the cockpit? (John Young and Gene Cernan both served in the navy)

https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-day1-pt2-earthorbit...

Thomas Stafford drops plenty of F-bombs in the Apollo–Soyuz mission transcripts too, which are faithfully recorded in the NASA archives for posterity.

Re:The curious case of fake NASA geniuses by toomanybeersies on Sunday September 19, 2021 @10:25PM (#28589845)
The Apollo 10 transcripts are an absolute gem.

During lunar orbit, they discovered a rogue poop floating in the cabin [1]:

> Stafford: Who did it? (Laughter)

> Cernan: Where did that come from?

> Stafford: Give me a napkin quick, there's a turd floating through the air.

> Young: I didn't do it. It ain't one of mine.

> Cernan: I don't think it's one of mine.

> Stafford: Mine was a little more sticky than that. Throw that away.

> Young: God almighty.

> Stafford: What do you see?

> Young: Nothing, that's enough for me.

> Cernan: Yes.

> Young: Nice going there.

> Cernan: No more turds are going to fit in there.

> Stafford: Is that waste compartment full?

> Young: No, hell; there's nothing in there.

> Cernan: It goes all the way down to the...

> Cernan: Hell, when I got in there, I had to stick my hand in there and [garble] - He put it in the bag, didn't he? You guys been trying to stick it through there with your fingers?

A few more choice quotes [2]:

> Stafford: [Garble] about that ascent stage. You know that? [Garble] son of a bitch [garble] screwed, you know? But that son of a bitch - John?

> Young: [Garble] burn [garble] God. What the hell is this shit? What? What is that crap those things [garble]? [Garble] putting my [garble].

> Young: Oh, what a life, being a spaceman. Wish I could have been a professor or something.

John Young was also the star of another great moment in NASA history, when he smuggled a corned beef sandwich onboard Gemini III [3]:

> Grissom: What is that?

> Young: Corn beef sandwich

> Grissom: Where did that come from?

> Young: I brought it with me. Let's see how it tastes. Smells, doesn't it?

> Grissom: Yes, it's breaking up. I'm going to stick it in my pocket.

> Young: Is it? It was a thought, anyway.

> Grissom: Yep

> Young: Not a very good one.

> Grissom: Pretty good, though, if it would just hold together.

[1] https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-day6-pt28.html

[2] https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-day6-pt27.html

[3] https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/hist... (page 45)

Re:The curious case of fake NASA geniuses by effingwewt on Monday September 20, 2021 @03:03AM (#28591003)
Oh my God I'm crying! I had no idea these even existed, thanks for the reading material.
Re:The curious case of fake NASA geniuses by kbenson on Sunday September 19, 2021 @10:04PM (#28589739)
Not a lot you can do once they're already in space, yeah?

I bet you there was some PR person at NASA cussing them out when they heard/saw those too.

As for being faithfully archived, well we already have enough moon landing conspiracists without giving them more "evidence" of stuff being hidden during space missions.

Re:The curious case of fake NASA geniuses by bumby on Sunday September 19, 2021 @10:01PM (#28589724)
I like these stories, but I think this is more a hallmark of a bygone era. If I remember correctly, the average age of NASA during Apollo was mid-twenties. Now (at least in certain orgs within the agency) it’s nearly double that