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Post by supermeerkat on Mar 18, 2011 18:54:39 GMT -4
www.autographica.co.uk/14th - 16th October 2011 - RADISSON EDWARDIAN HOTEL: HEATHROW LONDON. I am so there! Anyone going?
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Post by LunarOrbit on Mar 18, 2011 22:22:22 GMT -4
I met him at a convention in Toronto a few years ago. Anyone who gets an opportunity like that should take it.
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Post by chew on Mar 18, 2011 22:43:46 GMT -4
Be sure to tell him I said, "twelve oh one".
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Post by lukepemberton on Mar 19, 2011 2:54:11 GMT -4
www.autographica.co.uk/14th - 16th October 2011 - RADISSON EDWARDIAN HOTEL: HEATHROW LONDON. I am so there! Anyone going? Awesome... I'll certainly try and make it. Maybe I can ask him about the Dutch wood, stumbling and stuttering through my question and getting blown out of the water. I'll accuse him of being a 'cheat, coward and liar', as being punched by him will be a honour. Joking of course
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Post by supermeerkat on Mar 19, 2011 8:01:17 GMT -4
I met him at a convention in Toronto a few years ago. Anyone who gets an opportunity like that should take it. I went to last years convention, and Ed Mitchell pulled out the day before due his son's diagnosis of cancer. Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov were there, but where just doing photo shoots wearing their military uniforms. One of the organisers I spoke to, reckoned that the on the door ticket sales fell by half when Ed cancelled.
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Post by supermeerkat on Mar 19, 2011 19:44:48 GMT -4
Be sure to tell him I said, "twelve oh one". ?
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Post by Tanalia on Mar 20, 2011 7:49:27 GMT -4
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Post by Glom on Mar 20, 2011 10:44:51 GMT -4
So we turn up with some memorabilia and he signs it?
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Post by fiveonit on Mar 20, 2011 12:58:51 GMT -4
Hopefully Jarrah and Bart will stay far afield and not ruin it for him.
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Post by LunarOrbit on Mar 20, 2011 16:04:26 GMT -4
So we turn up with some memorabilia and he signs it? If it's like the event I attended, he'll show up 45 minutes late and rush through the autograph session like it's an assembly line. You'll barely have time to say "hello". The autograph session was followed by an hour long Q&A and a photo-op for people who paid extra. Still, it was great meeting him and I didn't really expect to get much time with him.
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Post by supermeerkat on Mar 20, 2011 20:18:44 GMT -4
So we turn up with some memorabilia and he signs it? Nope. If it's like the previous two I attended, you have a set value for a photograph which is signed - they won't sign anything you bring, and their "handlers" take care you don't spend to long talking to them either, even when they're not signing. It was £50 for a signed picture of Fred Haise in the April 2010 Autographica, and £25 (I think) for Jim McDivvit and Vance Brand. You pay £10-15 for an hour's lecture the astronauts, photos done first thing and signings done after the talks. The whole thing is set up to extract as much money as possible, and minimise the role of the astronauts, but they're hardly spring chickens.
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Post by ka9q on Mar 24, 2011 15:07:48 GMT -4
I've seen Aldrin twice at events in San Diego, and the second time I actually got to talk to him for a few minutes after his lecture as part of a group of 10-15 who hung around afterwards. The one word I would use to describe him is 'intense'.
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Post by threadworm on Mar 31, 2011 14:29:28 GMT -4
Blimey - it soon starts to add up if you actually want something other than an hour's talk!
For the price of the VIP ticket I'd want him to cook me dinner, never mind possibly maybe eating it next to me!
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Post by supermeerkat on Mar 31, 2011 16:47:39 GMT -4
For the price of the VIP ticket I'd want him to cook me dinner, never mind possibly maybe eating it next to me! I'd be happy with a bedtime story.
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Post by ka9q on Mar 31, 2011 22:01:54 GMT -4
At a couple of local Apollo-related events with astronauts in attendance I quickly realized that I'd read so much about Apollo that I was having a very difficult time thinking of a question to ask them to which I didn't already know the answer!
In a conversation with author Billy Watkins, John Young commented that all of the Apollo astronauts have been interviewed to death. He suggested that the author find some of Apollo's unsung heroes and get them to tell their stories. The result was the book "Apollo Moon Missions - The Unsung Heroes". It's a little thin but I do recommend it. He found that many of those involved had never been approached before, yet they all had interesting stories to tell.
In the same way, I've realized that the people I'd really like to meet at these events are not the astronauts so much as the guys on the ground who supported them. Not just the flight controllers but also the guys in the back room and at the contractor facilities. I'm sure every one of them has a story to tell, although I confess that most would probably be of considerably more interest to an engineer geek like me than to the general public.
I was pleasantly surprised to meet Gene Kranz at the Apollo 8 celebration in San Diego in December 2008. Despite being easily the most famous Apollo flight director (thanks to Ron Howard) he was pretty much by himself while the crowds mobbed the astronauts. I found him very easy to approach; he was happy to chat and pose for pictures. Later I also met Glynn Lunney, who was equally friendly and outgoing. Meeting those two guys was the highlight of the evening for me, and I found myself wishing I could have recognized the flight controllers and backroom people who were also undoubtedly there. A few like Sy Liebergot have already told their stories but I bet most of them haven't.
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