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05 May 03 - 06:24 PM (#946503) Subject: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: katlaughing Our astronauts who've been stuck up in space at the Moscow — It could have been a lot worse for the two U.S. astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut whose landing was more than 450 kilometres off course and whose recovery was hours late. In 1976, a Soyuz spacecraft came down in a freezing squall and splashed into a lake; the crew spent the night bobbing in the capsule. Eleven years before that, two cosmonauts overshot their touchdown site by 2,000 kilometres and found themselves deep in a forest with hungry wolves. That is when Russian space officials decided to pack a sawed-off shotgun aboard every spacecraft. Astronaut Kenneth Bowersox said with a smile that he didn't need the gun in the Kazakh steppes where he landed Sunday: "There was nothing out there but grass and us." Here's to their successful return!!! kat |
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05 May 03 - 06:55 PM (#946530) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: Gareth "There was nothing out there but grass and us." Mellow were they ???? Gareth |
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06 May 03 - 12:21 AM (#946697) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: katlaughing Better than than wolves, I guess, eh? LOL! |
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06 May 03 - 03:59 AM (#946780) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: katlaughing A little more: When the hatch first cracked open, the smells of spring on the steppes and the sounds of birds overwhelmed them. "Real earthy smells, because we'd stirred up a fair amount of dirt when we landed and then we rolled and were dragged a bit. So you had this fresh dirt smell, which was just a beautiful smell . . . and it had a little bit of crushed grass in it, too," Pettit said. "Then the next thing that hit me were all the birds chirping. . . . It was just music to our ears." Having come from almost six months in weightlessness, it took the three men more than an hour to drag themselves out of the hatch under the oppression of Earth's gravity and erect a folded communications antenna to help the searching planes and helicopters find them, they said. "You'd crawl out. . . . You'd move a little bit. Rest. Move a little bit more. Rest," Bowersox said. "It was pretty amazing." And he added, "I feel really lucky." |
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06 May 03 - 06:44 PM (#947335) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: CapriUni Real earthy smells, because we'd stirred up a fair amount of dirt when we landed and then we rolled and were dragged a bit. So you had this fresh dirt smell, which was just a beautiful smell . . . and it had a little bit of crushed grass in it, too," Pettit said. Sometimes, we earthbound earthlings take the most profound and simple beauties of our home for granted. And this is a beautiful home. I pray that I never lose sight of that... |
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07 May 03 - 09:57 AM (#947798) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: Stilly River Sage Yes, it is, and this time of year the yard is a very active place. Not enough room for a nosecone to get dragged around, but anyone landing in my back yard would find lots of birds, grass, trees, honeysuckle, and poison ivy (overlooking the creek, which removes some of the charm of that view!) and lots of little tarantula holes in the lawn. Imagine crawling along in the grass and realizing all of those little quarter-dollar sized holes each has a largish brown occupant. . . I imagine the sound of bird calls would have been musical to them. And magical. SRS |
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07 May 03 - 11:08 AM (#947846) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: catspaw49 While a neat story here kat, your thread title makes me ill. Anyone entering the words Major Tom in the search can see that Hawk and I are about the only folks who have mentioned this piece of shit song. Hawk doesn't see it that way of course, but then he's a friggin' nutcase so it's understandable. "Space Oddity" ranks at the top of my list as the worst song ever....Ground Control to Major Tom, you really are fucked up....or whatever the words are. What a complete waste of notes and words......Major Tom, psychotic astronaut.........geeziz....... Spaw |
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07 May 03 - 11:27 AM (#947864) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: katlaughing I know, Spaw, I knew you hated it and I knew, eventually, it would catch yer eye...that makes me a sick puppy, doesn't it? And, I LOVE the song!! Still pretty kewl these guys making it back..good thing none of them suffer from claustrophobia! |
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07 May 03 - 08:41 PM (#948212) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: Grab "Russian station"? |
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07 May 03 - 10:54 PM (#948303) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: katlaughing Sorry, my mistake. I've corrected it. Thanks! |
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08 May 03 - 12:38 PM (#948734) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: GUEST,fretless Science fiction to science fact... ........................ The Green Hills of Earth Let the sweet fresh breezes heal me As they rove around the girth Of our lovely mother planet Of the cool, green hills of Earth. We rot in the moulds of Venus, We retch at her tainted breath. Foul are her flooded jungles, Crawling with unclean death. [ --- the harsh bright soil of Luna --- --- Saturn's rainbow rings --- --- the frozen night of Titan --- ] We've tried each spinning space mote And reckoned its true worth: Take us back again to the homes of men On the cool, green hills of Earth. The arching sky is calling Spacemen back to their trade. ALL HANDS! STAND BY! FREE FALLING! And the lights below us fade. Out ride the sons of Terra, Far drives the thundering jet, Up leaps a race of Earthmen, Out, far, and onward yet --- We pray for one last landing On the globe that gave us birth; Let us rest our eyes on the friendly skies And the cool, green hills of Earth. -- Robert A. Heinlein |
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19 Dec 25 - 12:04 PM (#4233194) Subject: RE: BS: Ground Control to Maj. Tom-They Made It! From: Nigel Parsons Strange signs seen on the continent (of Europe) This one got me thinking (and filking). It said "Fart Kontrol" (I think it may be speed cameras) Fartkontrol to Major Tom. if you've got your spacesuit on All the gas you pass is stuck in there with you ! Fartkontrol to Major Tom, You're now a walking methane bomb. Keep away from naked flames, they'll be the death of you. This is Major Tom to FartKontrol My ass I can't control And the gas in here has risen to my 'pits And what is more, I think I've got the sh. . . |