Changes, part 2

Yesterday, I mentioned Suni Williams was No. 202 in my "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" book. Steve Robinson, whose signature I would have been happy about if it was the only one I received at Space Congress, was No. 204.

Who then was No. 203?

From meeting Andy Allen 10 years ago.

Andy Allen was originally listed as attending the Astronaut Social. I had printed photos up and would have been happy adding him to my wife's copy of "Shuttle: 20 Years" (Allen had signed her copy of "To Space and Back," before she got her own copy of the other book.)

So there I was, two days before the event, and I check the Congress' website to see if any new astronauts had been listed.

Allen's name was gone. With no replacement listed. Yikes!

To their credit, Space Congress responds fast on their Facebook page. I sent them a post, emailed a friend who would be there to stand down on Allen and stand by on a replacement, and just after I hit send, I got the answer:

John-David Bartoe, payload specialist on STS-51-F/Spacelab 2.

This was real exciting to me for two reasons. Bartoe doesn't live on this side of the U.S., yet makes regular appearances at the Astronaut Encounter at Kennedy Space Center - which I always seem to miss.

Bartoe also flew before the Challenger accident, and it seems that most of the astronauts I meet and from the era when the space station was being constructed or outfitted - never from the early days.

And of course, I didn't have his signature in my book either. So Bartoe became No. 203.

And once again, because I don't have enough challenges - let alone finding high-res photos pre-STS-79 is hard to do - I decided to have him sign a photo of the prime and backup payload specialists from Spacelab 2.

Unfortunately, Dianne Prinz died in 2012. But the other two, George Simon (upper left, a backup like Prinz) and Loren Acton (lower right, the other prime payload specialists) are good signers - and a photo I sent Acton was signed in silver and mostly flaked off on the way back to me.

I would have considered myself fortunate for a twofer. But again, as the commercial says, "Wait, there's more...."

Sam Durrance, also a payload specialist (STS-35 and 67/Astro-1 and 2) was also at the Astronaut Social. Through a friend, he had already signed my book, so I busied myself with getting my wife's book and a photo signed.

After getting Bartoe, then Robinson, I circled the room to see if there were any other astronauts. Scott Altman, who was listed at attending, wasn't there yer. Neither was Bob Cabana. They had already signed both our books but I needed Altman on two crew photos, having missed him at Hubble 25, and I had a photo that Durrance signed which needed Cabana's autograph (as well as that of Susan Still-Kilrain, in the rear vehicle:)

As I made my way to the front of the room, I momentarily froze as I read one person's nametag: Scott Vangen.

Vangen was an alternate payload specialist for STS-67, and thus was backup to the PSs on that flight, including Durrance. He wasn't listed as attending; Vangen was there as a guest.

According to Spacefacts.de, Bartoe was also a backup to STS-35 and 67. So it made sense that all the payload specialists were hanging out in this particular spot, shooting the breeze.

None of the mission specialists were doing the same (Robinson and Winston Scott.) It's scenes like that in which you realize, "This is pretty neat."

After sending my wife to try and find my friend, I waited for a break in their conversation to ask, "Mr. Vangen? A moment, please?"

Vangen works at Kennedy Space Center, and so it made sense that he lives in the area. He seemed surprised that I recognized who he was and also that I wanted his autograph. Vangen told me he gets occasional people showing up at his house (which I do NOT recommend!) looking for his signature to complete their collection. I told him Pete Aldridge, who was a PS that was going to fly on STS-62-A, the first Vandenberg shuttle flight, had the same reaction.

Now, every time I went to KSC I looked in vain for Vangen, hoping he'd be walking around the center. And there are photos of him online (although STS-67 training photos I didn't find in high-res.) However, among the many pictures I thought to bring "just in case," none were of Vangen!

I did have my catch-all which I use just for such occasions:

Previously signed by Michael Lopez-Alegria (left) and Randy Bresnik (right.)

Vangen wanted to know where he should sign, then answered his own question: "On the ground, since I didn't fly," e.g., he was grounded.

He thus became No. 205 in my "Shuttle: 20 Years" book.

I thanked him, then decided to meet up with Altman, who found a table to sign stuff. He brought his own pre-signed lithos, but I had two crew photos - the STS-109 before they added the background to the green screen:

Altman did an impromptu signing at Udvar-Hazy, which I missed, and I missed getting Mike Massimino (far left) and John Grunsfeld (second from right) to sign this at the Hubble 25 commemoration for some reason. ::shrug""

And the gag photo for STS-125. This appeared as a poster, but I had it printed as an 8x10, hence the cut off of the NASA logo:

I'm missing Greg C. Johnson and Mike Good, both of whom were at Hubble 25 but did not take part in organized signings. A friend - the same one who was at the Astronaut Social - was able to get them both on the fly, dagnabbit.

One more pass of the exhibit hall, and still no Cabana, which was fine. I said my goodbyes to my friend and left the social, really happy for a threefer.

If anybody's keeping track, that means 192 shuttle astronauts in my book and 13 other relateds - trained but didn't fly or flew only the Approach and Landing Tests. (Also in that 13 is Jim Lovell, who wrote the foreword.)

Of course, when I got home I realized I could have had Altman sign my Shuttle Training Aircraft cockpit diagram, which I started getting shuttle pilots to sign. Ah well, there's next time...

Changes....

There have been lots of changes, both personally and space-related. The personal one, well, it's personal and suffice to say my limited time is even more limited.

Space-related, I am down to needling about 130 space shuttle astronauts in my "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" book to be complete (355 flyers less 33 deceased [there are 37 deceased astronauts and I have the signatures of four of them] less three people who are basically nonsigners equals 319. I have 192 shuttle astronauts, but I have two on separate pieces of paper I need to get in the book, so 319 minus 190 equals 129.)

This long explanation is my way of saying that even one new astronaut is a milestone for me. Here it is June and I have just seven new signatures in my book. Granted, past years have been buoyed by events such as the Hubble 25 commemoration at Udvar-Hazy in 2015, or 2012's shuttle Discovery transfer, also at Udvar-Hazy, but also, too, any new astronaut I haven't seen or need in my book have been few and far between.

But I have had some remarkable successes.

Before I get into those, there's been another change. Just shy of my 200th signer, I have stopped scanning pages from my "Shuttle: 20 Years" book. I had hoped to include at least Roger Crouch's (No. 199) and Jim Adamson's (No. 200) pages onto my Flickr account, but found that the book was getting too fragile - in fact, the book now lays flat at where Rich Clifford signed it. So unless they can invent a scanner where I don't have to lay the book flat on the glass, you'll just have to take my word that the book was autographed on that page, even though the signature isn't there.

As mentioned, Roger Crouch was No. 199 in my book, someone who had been on my bucket list since he had made appearances at the nearby Discover Family Engineering Day since at least 2012. In fact, I was in Washington, DC in 2014 during the time of the event, but since I didn't have my book with me, I couldn't get his signature. I just wished this year they would have spelled his name right....

A trip to Florida at that time revolved around his appearance. It was a very informal, but well-handled signing. Crouch sat at a table with a stack of pre-signed photos (which he personalized if you wanted) for those who didn't have items. I had my wife's and my copy of "Shuttle: 20 Years" along with two photos. Crouch agreed to sign both books, then decided to sign one of the photos. He also gave us a photo for my daughter (who was present) which now resides in her "Book of Adventures and Stories."

Of course, a trip to Florida wouldn't be complete without a trip to Kennedy Space Center. And who was there at the Astronaut Encounter the day we decided to go? Yup, Roger Crouch.

No. 200 was a TTM to Jim Adamson, whom I knew was a fast signer. I had gotten the OK to send him my book during the summer after I sent him my crew photo (below) for his autograph, but there always seemed to be an astronaut appearance that required my book. I was itching for a signature, though, with the doldrums in astronauts. He signed it the same day it arrived and posted it back in the mail - couldn't ask for better service!

Skipping No. 201 for a moment (Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger), I was really happy for No. 202 - Suni Williams.

Back in 2013 I couldn't stay to meet Williams, who was appearing in Boston-area schools along with Aki Hoshide. This past summer she was also in the Boston-area, but a friend wasn't able to get her signature in my book for me.

Third time's the charm, though, and since I like challenges, I decided to also send a photo showing her among the Commercial Crew astronauts - since they all are, to one degree or another, hard signers.

And now we come to my favorite event so far this year - the Astronaut Social that was a part of the 44th Space Congress, held at the Radisson Resort at the Port, Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Five astronauts were scheduled to be at the social - one of which I didn't have my book. I would have been happy with just one new signature:

Steve Robinson, who flew four shuttle missions, was backup flight engineer for an ISS expedition, and plays a mean guitar (he added the musical note unasked.)

But as the commercial goes, "Wait! There's more!"