Alan Bean, the 4th person to walk on the moon, dies at 86
Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon and the last surviving member of the Apollo 12 mission, died Saturday in Houston, according to his family and NASA. He was 86.
[...] His first mission to space was in November 1969 as a member of the Apollo 12 crew, the second to land on the moon, it said. He became the fourth man -- and one of only 12 in history -- to walk on the moon.
Bean also commanded the second crewed flight to the first US space station Skylab in July 1973.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday May 28 2018, @01:04AM (2 children)
Now that's Most Cynical.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday May 28 2018, @01:42AM
At current rates of development, not even China will get someone back on the moon before those four are dead.
We could wait for the next world war and see of it jump-starts things the way the last one did, but it is more likely that the next world war will also be the last world war.
Neal Stephenson was overly optimistic; the people on Mars or on the Moon will more likely have lonely deaths than re-start humanity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves [wikipedia.org]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Monday May 28 2018, @04:19PM
Relevant xkcd: https://www.xkcd.com/893/ [xkcd.com]