Author Archives: Andrea

“Steven got on a plane like most people get on a bus“

Narratively:
The Man with the Golden Airline Ticket. “My dad was one of the only people with a good-for-life, go-anywhere American Airlines pass. Then they took it away. This is the true story of having—and losing—a superpower.” By Caroline Rothstein.

“In the early 1980s, American rolled out AAirpass, a prepaid membership program that let very frequent flyers purchase discounted tickets by locking in a certain number of annual miles they presumed they might fly in advance. My 30-something-year-old father, having been a frequent flyer for his entire life, purchased one. Then, a few years later, American introduced something straight out an avid traveler’s fantasy: an unlimited ticket.

In 1987, amidst a lucrative year as a Bear Stearns stockbroker, my father became one of only a few dozen people on earth to purchase an unlimited, lifetime AAirpass. A quarter of a million dollars gave him access to fly first class anywhere in the world on American for the rest of his life. He flew so much it paid for itself.”

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“[Being an astronaut is] a very special mantle to wear. I feel very privileged.”

NPR: Seeing Apollo Through The Eyes Of Astronauts. “Fifty years ago, two astronauts became the first humans to set foot on the moon. Like many explorers, they documented their accomplishment in photographs. The images they took are some of the most enduring of the 20th century, traveling from Life magazine to MTV to Twitter.

For most of us, the photos brought back by Apollo 11 are iconic and a little difficult to comprehend. But for astronauts, they represent something more: hours of training, risks taken and the many people on the ground who worked to make the journey possible.

NPR spoke to five former NASA astronauts who flew on space missions to learn how they see these photos.”

“It’s the tiny, gumdrop-shaped vehicle sitting just below the tip” of the rocket

NPR: The Making Of Apollo’s Command Module: 2 Engineers Recall Tragedy And Triumph.

“Look at a picture of the Apollo 11 launch and you’ll probably notice the rocket’s pointed tip and the fire coming from the five giant engines in the first stage of the 36-story-tall Saturn V rocket.

What you might miss is arguably the most important part of the entire thing: the command module.

It’s the tiny, gumdrop-shaped vehicle sitting just below the tip. It holds the astronauts, their clothing, sleeping bags, food and — along with a companion service module — all of the systems needed for a round-trip journey to the moon. It’s also the only piece of the spacecraft to complete the entire trip and splash down back on Earth.
[…]
On their way back, the astronauts sent one final transmission from space.

Collins had this to say: “This operation is somewhat like the periscope of a submarine. All you see is the three of us, but beneath the surface are thousands and thousands of others. And to all of them, I’d like to say thank you very much.””