"Well, they got their publicity..." A savage comment, but also completely fair. The engineers warned NASA not to launch. They did anyway. It cost the astronauts their lives. That's what happens when you let the suits overrule the guys who actually know how things work. General Yeager knows what's up.
I was in fifth grade when it happened. It was a snow day, so schools were closed and I was at home. I saw it happen on television. For my generation, that was our "JFK assassination" moment. We all remember where we were and what we were doing.
I scrolled through some more of General Yeager's tweets and discovered this little gem:
That's a heck of a sentence. "I met Orville just after I broke the sound barrier." From the rickety Wright Flyer to the Bell X-1 in two generations. And from dogfighting over Europe in a P-51 Mustang to posting on Twitter in a single lifetime.
I actually read General Yeager's autobiography when I was a kid. Fascinating stuff about an amazing man. I recommend it for anyone who wants to know some things they don't teach you in history class.
No comments:
Post a Comment