History, Philosophy, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

And Then There Were Four

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Alan Bean has left the earth for the last time.

I just saw Buzz last night at the ISDC awards ceremony, which was probably the most encouraging in the history of that meeting, in which (amid saving The Expanse for another season, with many of the cast and production crew present) Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, laid out his vision for humanity in space that was shared by all in that room. There will be a party tonight, and I don’t think the organization will have had a more joyous one in its history. It was fitting that it occurred in the very same hotel where the very first conference was held, thirty-seven years ago.

18 thoughts on “And Then There Were Four”

  1. That makes 3 moonwalker deaths in little more than a year. Bean was one of my favorites, he always seemed like such a (no pun intended) down to earth guy.

    1. Thus far the longest lived moonwalker is Aldrin at 88 and counting. If the youngest moonwalker, Duke, lives as long as Aldrin already has then we have 6 years to return before he is gone.

      1. Except Buzz isn’t gone yet, so they could all live longer. On the other hand, there is some evidence that the trips had life-shortening effects.

        1. The average US male life expectancy is 78. The average age at death of the 8 moonwalkers who have passed is 78. That includes Conrad who died from motorcycle accident injuries at age 69.

          1. That average includes people who are of less educated demographics.

            I suspect the average life expectancy of a college-age white male of that vintage should be easily over 80.

            Rand, why do you think it shortens lifespan? Those were short trips into deep space to have had any kind of a noticeable effect on such a small population.

          3. That includes Conrad who died from motorcycle accident injuries at age 69.

            So… Aldrin, Scott, Schmitt and Duke are not allowed to fly on the same plane… Right?

          4. Here’s the study (or at least one of them):
            https://www.nature.com/articles/srep29901

            An excerpt from the abstract:

            The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether mortality rates due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, accidents and all other causes of death differ in (1) astronauts who never flew orbital missions in space, (2) astronauts who flew only in low Earth orbit (LEO), and (3) Apollo lunar astronauts, the only humans to have traveled beyond Earth’s magnetosphere. Results show there were no differences in CVD mortality rate between non-flight (9%) and LEO (11%) astronauts. However, the CVD mortality rate among Apollo lunar astronauts (43%) was 4–5 times higher than in non-flight and LEO astronauts.

  3. The first ISDC (don’t remember whether we called it that then) was the one where Robert Heinlein was Guest of Honor. As memorable an experience as I still manage to recall from our OASIS days (…including and especially the story he told me personally…)!

  4. Quite likely we’ll be down to zero before the next person walks on the Moon.
    O/T:Watching Season 3 of “The Expanse” I cannot get over why the crew of a warship at General Quarters wouldn’t be in vac suits.

  5. Missing were: Robert Heinlein, Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, Harry Stine. Damn it.

  6. Tempus fugit, unfortunately. Here’s hoping a 13th pair of American boots indents the lunar surface before the last Apollo-era Moonwalker passes. Walking on the Moon is something that should never pass out of living American memory.

    1. That is a different thing than passing out of having live people who did it. Everyone born in the late fifties remembers it. We’re still going strong for at least another decade or two.

      1. Point taken. Heck, I sure remember the Moon landings myself. But I wasn’t there, I just watched on grainy black and white TV. That’s like the difference between an American combat veteran’s memories of World War 2 and those of the characters from Summer of ’42 who saw The War on newsreels. It’s something, but it isn’t the essence of the thing.

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