I just listened to a brief interview that I cannot let pass. I put something on Facebook about, but I have to expand it just a bit.
MSNBC anchor Brian Williams was interviewing Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson as part of the on-going coverage of this morning’s horrific massacre in Orlando, Fla.
Williams introduced Nelson to his audience as “an astronaut-turned-politician.” He then referenced Nelson’s “many years at NASA” while commenting on the prospect of extra security in the wake of the shooting.
I now want to set the record straight.
Sen. Nelson is a politician-turned-one-flight-astronaut. He served in Congress when he got picked for a flight aboard the space shuttle Columbia in January 1986.
He served as a payload specialist aboard the shuttle. He flew once, came back to Earth and went back to work in Congress.
What is equally fascinating is that Nelson didn’t correct Williams on either occasion.
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Nelson, a Democrat, was the second member of Congress to fly on a shuttle mission. The first was Utah Republican Sen. Jake Garn, who flew aboard the shuttle Discovery a year earlier, in 1985.
Oh, and the third member of Congress to fly? That would be a Democratic senator from Ohio, John Glenn. Yes, that John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth in February 1962 aboard the Mercury capsule.
I should note here that Sen. Glenn had an advantage that his congressional “astronauts” didn’t have. The crews with which Garn and Nelson worked had to translate the jargon they spoke among themselves, as their rookie crewmen weren’t fluent in “astronaut-speak.”
Glenn needed no translator as he trained to fly aboard Discovery in 1998. He knows the language well. He spoke it himself while training with his six other initial American space travelers back in the 1960s.
Check out this video of that shuttle mission.
I wouldn’t question Brian Williams. He was there … on the shuttle … in space.
Eh, I think would be in bad taste to correct someone on your resume when commenting on a mass shooting. People would interpret that as narcissistic. But interesting fact: 11 of 312 astronauts went their entire careers at NASA without ever getting called up for a mission.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/740566main_current.pdf
It can be done tactfully. “Uh, Brian, I wasn’t an astronaut; I got picked to fly on a shuttle mission while serving in Congress.” Williams then would say, “Thank you, senator, for setting me straight.” End of that discussion …
Is there an official definition of what qualifies as an astronaut you can point to? Google links to several NASA pages that include Bill Nelson as an astronaut as well as his mission aboard the shuttle as an astronaut role. Tampa Bay Times calls him an astronaut on their bio of him as well as NASA’s bio being among the astronaut bios. In addition, he meets the dictionary definition of an astronaut. Even you call him a one-flight astronaut. By what measure are you saying he doesn’t qualify as an astronaut in your headline and previous post and who in a position of authority on such matters is in agreement?
but he was not an astronaut who then became a politician, which is what was stated. And by the way his astronaut nickname used by some of the other astronauts behind his back was “Ballast” . He didn’t earn his spot there, he forced his way on because of his political position.
Common sense would seem to dictate that a member of Congress chosen to fill a seat on a single flight into space doesn’t quite qualify to be called an “astronaut.” Sure, he went through the training. He seemed pretty fit at the time — he still does look fit. Thanks, as always, for your comment.
So looking to Websters dictionary, the authority on language, or NASA, the authority on space, as well as quite a few other possible sources isn’t sensible? He’s been into space meets my “common sense” definition. But I always like authoritative sources. If you know of any, I’m willing to change my mind. Till then, he’s Sen. Astronaut Bill Nelson.
I won’t argue with you about Sen./Astronaut Nelson. I’ll just add that I’ve done a couple of things in my life that go far beyond what I did during my normal waking hours. I once helped a farmer castrate cattle; had to round ’em up in a corral, tie ’em down and then cut their “jewels” off. I do not consider myself a wrangler. I also once gave a commencement speech to the River Road HS graduating class at the Civic Center; I do not consider myself to be a motivational speaker. Thanks for your comments.
I bet that reasoning goes over well when you tell National Guardsmen that being shot at, wounded and killed in Iraq and Afghanistan doesn’t make them real soldiers because they’re really lawyers and journalists and such in their everyday lives.
It’s worth pointing out most members of a shuttle crew are passengers with little if anything to do with the piloting of the craft (the Soviets launched their shuttle about this time and landed it with no crew). But they all faced the same risks, a point driven home only 16 days after Sen. Astronaut Nelson’s shuttle launch when the Shuttle Challenger exploded with, what would you say, six real astronauts and one space tourist aboard.
#Peace
As a commercial pilot, I do know the difference between crew members, and passengers. I’ve also been an officer in the US Merchant Marine for 40 years. And also know the difference between crew, cargo, and passengers. Just because you have been on a ship in the Persian Gulf, does not make you a sailor, let alone a combat veteran.