The Grumman F9F Panther is an early carrier-based jet fighter designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Grumman . It was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft to see air-to-air combat with the United States Navy as well as being Grumman’s first jet fighter.
111-572: Eugene Andrew Cernan ( / ˈ s ɜːr n ə n / ; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut , naval aviator , electrical engineer , aeronautical engineer , and fighter pilot . During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the 11th human being to walk on the Moon. As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains
222-520: A human mission to Mars . Over the last decade, flight surgeons and scientists at NASA have seen a pattern of vision problems in astronauts on long-duration space missions. The syndrome, known as visual impairment intracranial pressure (VIIP) , has been reported in nearly two-thirds of space explorers after long periods spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS). On 2 November 2017, scientists reported that significant changes in
333-463: A spacecraft . Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists . "Astronaut" technically applies to all human space travelers regardless of nationality. However, astronauts fielded by Russia or the Soviet Union are typically known instead as cosmonauts (from
444-662: A "spacewalk"), on 18 March 1965, on the Soviet Union's Voskhod 2 mission. This was followed two and a half months later by astronaut Ed White who made the first American EVA on NASA's Gemini 4 mission. The first crewed mission to orbit the Moon, Apollo 8 , included American William Anders who was born in Hong Kong, making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968. The Soviet Union, through its Intercosmos program, allowed people from other " socialist " (i.e. Warsaw Pact and other Soviet-allied) countries to fly on its missions, with
555-548: A 2012 episode of Modern Family . A recording of Cernan's voice during the Apollo 17 mission was sampled by Daft Punk for "Contact", the last track on their 2013 album Random Access Memories . Cernan's last words from the lunar surface, along with Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt's recollections, were used by the band Public Service Broadcasting for the song "Tomorrow", the final track of their 2015 album The Race for Space . The Apple TV+ show For All Mankind dramatizes
666-405: A Panther (serial 0453/3-A-119) landed on Independencia as part of trials, the first jet to land on an Argentine aircraft carrier; it was not then catapult-launched, but off-loaded by crane when the ship returned to port. Argentine Navy F9F-2 Panthers were engaged in combat during the 1963 Argentine Navy Revolt . Several rebel-controlled aircraft flew bombing and strafing runs against a column of
777-535: A crewed spacecraft, several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with one of these countries, e.g. the Soviet-led Interkosmos program. Inspired partly by these missions, other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional English usage. For example, the term spationaut (French: spationaute ) is sometimes used to describe French space travelers, from the Latin word spatium for "space";
888-517: A gift to SpaceX founder Elon Musk to commemorate the first successful SpaceX cargo mission to the ISS in 2012. Eventually, Cernan was won over and signed the photograph; "As I told him these stories of heroic entrepreneurship, I could see his mind turning." Jurvetson wrote; "He found a reconciliation: 'I never read any of this in the news. Why doesn't the press report on this?'" Cernan gave a eulogy at Armstrong's funeral in 2012. In 2014, Cernan appeared in
999-496: A human being standing on the lunar surface: Bob , this is Gene, and I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come—but we believe not too long into the future—I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record: that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus–Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed
1110-512: A lack of spare parts. Grumman would develop the F9F design in response to U.S. Navy interest, producing the swept wing Grumman F-9 Cougar . The origins of the Panther can be traced back to development studies performed by Grumman into jet-powered fighter aircraft near the end of World War II . The company was keen to capitalise on the emergence of the first practical jet engines by integrating them into
1221-438: A medically healthy environment for astronauts. F9F Panther Development of the Panther commenced in the final months of World War II to harness the recent innovation of the jet engine. Grumman designed a single-engined, straight-winged day fighter that was armed with four 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons and could also carry a wide assortment of air-to-ground munitions. Production aircraft were typically powered by
SECTION 10
#17328581805781332-675: A member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, serving as a treasurer. At Purdue, Cernan was also president of the Quarterdeck Society and the Scabbard and Blade , and a member of the Phi Eta Sigma honor society and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. He was on the military ball committee and was a member of the Skull and Crescent leadership honor society. After his sophomore year, he accepted
1443-463: A new aircraft design. This design, which was internally designated G-75 , was submitted to a United States Navy competition that sought a jet-powered night fighter to equip its aircraft carriers with. However, on 3 April 1946, it was announced that the Douglas F3D Skyknight , a competing two-seat aircraft powered by four Westinghouse J30 turbojets , had been selected. On 11 April 1946,
1554-400: A number of problems; the original target vehicle exploded during launch and the planned docking with a substitute target vehicle was made impossible by the failure of a protective shroud to separate after launch. The crew performed a rendezvous that simulated procedures that would be used in the Apollo 10 mission; the first optical rendezvous and a lunar-orbit-abort rendezvous. Cernan performed
1665-756: A partial Navy ROTC scholarship that required him to serve aboard USS Roanoke between his junior and senior years. In 1956, Cernan received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering ; his final GPA was 5.1 out of 6.0. Cernan was commissioned a U.S. Navy Ensign through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) at Purdue, and was initially stationed on the USS ; Saipan . Cernan changed to active duty and attended flight training at Whiting Field , Florida , Barron Field , Texas , NAS Corpus Christi , Texas, and NAS Memphis , Tennessee . Following flight training on
1776-468: A positive evaluation of Schmitt's abilities; he concluded that Schmitt was an outstanding LM pilot while Engle—notwithstanding his outstanding record as an aircraft test pilot—was merely an adequate one. Cernan's role as commander of Apollo 17 closed out the Apollo program's lunar exploration mission with a number of record-setting achievements. During the three days of Apollo 17's surface activity (Dec. 11–14, 1972), Cernan and Schmitt performed three EVAs for
1887-425: A private service on January 25, 2017. Cernan was a member of several organizations, including Fellow , American Astronautical Society ; member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots ; member, Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Society), Sigma Xi (National Science Research Society), Phi Gamma Delta (National Social Fraternity), and The Explorers Club . Cernan, along with nine of his Gemini astronaut colleagues,
1998-401: A record 34 kilograms (75 lb) of samples, the most of any Apollo mission) that would shed light on the Moon's early history. Cernan piloted the rover on its final sortie, recording a maximum speed of 11.2 mph (18.0 km/h), giving him the unofficial lunar land speed record . As Cernan prepared to climb the ladder for the final time, he spoke these words, currently the last spoken by
2109-615: A researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who flew on STS-9 in 1983. In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first paying space traveler and the first journalist in space for Tokyo Broadcasting System , a visit to Mir as part of an estimated $ 12 million (USD) deal with a Japanese TV station, although at the time, the term used to refer to Akiyama was "Research Cosmonaut". Akiyama suffered severe space sickness during his mission, which affected his productivity. The first self-funded space tourist
2220-480: A single Allison J33 or Pratt & Whitney J48 -P-2 turbojet engine. On 21 November 1947, the prototype performed its maiden flight , powered by an imported Rolls-Royce Nene engine. During September 1949, the F9F was cleared for flight from aircraft carriers. The Panther was used extensively by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the Korean War . On 3 July 1950, a F9F-3 recorded the first U.S. Navy air victory of
2331-571: A total of about 22 hours of exploration of the Taurus–Littrow valley . Their first EVA alone was more than three times the length astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent outside the LM on Apollo 11 . During this time Cernan and Schmitt covered more than 35 km (22 mi; 19 nmi) using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and spent a great deal of time collecting geologic samples (including
SECTION 20
#17328581805782442-573: Is John Glenn , one of the Mercury 7 , who was 77 when he flew on STS-95 . The longest time spent in space was by Russian Valeri Polyakov , who spent 438 days there. As of 2006, the most spaceflights by an individual astronaut is seven, a record held by both Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz . The farthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was 401,056 km (249,205 mi), when Jim Lovell , Jack Swigert , and Fred Haise went around
2553-570: Is also the only person to fly in two different Apollo Lunar Modules in space while not docked to the Apollo Command and Service Module , both times near the Moon. In 1976, Cernan retired from the Navy with the rank of captain and went from NASA into private business, becoming Executive Vice President of Coral Petroleum Inc. before starting his own company, The Cernan Corporation, in 1981. In 1981 and 1982, Cernan joined Frank Reynolds and Jules Bergman on
2664-845: Is also where the Shuttle Training Aircraft is maintained and developed, although most flights of the aircraft are conducted from Edwards Air Force Base . Astronauts in training must learn how to control and fly the Space Shuttle; further, it is vital that they are familiar with the International Space Station so they know what they must do when they get there. The master's degree requirement can also be met by: Mission Specialist Educators , or "Educator Astronauts", were first selected in 2004; as of 2007, there are three NASA Educator astronauts: Joseph M. Acaba , Richard R. Arnold , and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger . Barbara Morgan , selected as back-up teacher to Christa McAuliffe in 1985,
2775-436: Is anticipated that remote guided ultrasound will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations, where access to a trained physician is often rare. A 2006 Space Shuttle experiment found that Salmonella typhimurium , a bacterium that can cause food poisoning , became more virulent when cultivated in space. More recently, in 2017, bacteria were found to be more resistant to antibiotics and to thrive in
2886-512: Is called an astronaut . The first known use of the term "astronaut" in the modern sense was by Neil R. Jones in his 1930 short story "The Death's Head Meteor". The word itself had been known earlier; for example, in Percy Greg 's 1880 book Across the Zodiac , "astronaut" referred to a spacecraft. In Les Navigateurs de l'infini (1925) by J.-H. Rosny aîné , the word astronautique ( astronautics )
2997-635: Is considered to be the first Educator astronaut by the media, but she trained as a mission specialist. The Educator Astronaut program is a successor to the Teacher in Space program from the 1980s. Astronauts are susceptible to a variety of health risks including decompression sickness , barotrauma , immunodeficiencies , loss of bone and muscle , loss of eyesight , orthostatic intolerance , sleep disturbances , and radiation injury. A variety of large scale medical studies are being conducted in space via
3108-455: Is strictly defined as the navigation of outer space within the local star system , i.e. Solar System . The phrase tàikōng rén ( 太空人 , "spaceman") is often used in Hong Kong and Taiwan . The term taikonaut is used by some English-language news media organizations for professional space travelers from China . The word has featured in the Longman and Oxford English dictionaries, and
3219-624: The Blue Angels aerobatics demonstration team, being flown in this capacity from 1949 through to late 1954. Future astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn both flew the F9F extensively during the Korean War. While Australia was interested in the Panther during the late 1940s, the nation ultimately opted for the Gloster Meteor F.8 and the CAC Sabre instead. The aircraft's only export customer
3330-586: The Criterion Collection release of the film For All Mankind was recorded by Cernan and director Al Reinert in 1999. Cernan was featured in the Discovery Channel 's 2008 documentary miniseries When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions , talking about his involvement and missions as an astronaut. A popular belief is that Cernan wrote his daughter's initials on a rock on the Moon, Tracy's Rock . The story, and Cernan's relationship with his daughter,
3441-563: The G-79 . In a bureaucratic maneuver, BuAer opted not to cancel the G-75 contract, but instead changed the wording to include three prototypes of the entirely different G-79. It was this design that became the Panther. At that time, the few American engines that were available for use, such as the Allison J33 and Westinghouse J34 , were not considered to be sufficiently reliable; thus, the Navy specified
Gene Cernan - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-472: The International Space Station . Such companies, Cernan warned, "do not yet know what they don't know." Cernan's view of commercial space companies—in particular SpaceX , which participates in both programs—underwent a positive shift after being debriefed by SpaceX venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson as part of his effort to obtain the signatures of nine Apollo astronauts on a photograph meant as
3663-488: The International Space Station : The first NASA astronauts were selected for training in 1959. Early in the space program, military jet test piloting and engineering training were often cited as prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA, although neither John Glenn nor Scott Carpenter (of the Mercury Seven ) had any university degree, in engineering or any other discipline at the time of their selection. Selection
3774-503: The Korean War . It was the widest used Navy jet fighter of the conflict, cumulatively flying 78,000 sorties. F9F-2s, F9F-3s and F9F-5s, as rugged attack aircraft, were able to sustain operations despite being frequently opposed by intense anti-aircraft fire. The pilots also appreciated the air conditioned cockpit, which made for a welcome change from the humid environment of piston-powered aircraft. On 3 July 1950, Lieutenant, junior grade Leonard H. Plog, of VF-51 , flying an F9F-3 scored
3885-663: The Malay term angkasawan (deriving from angkasa meaning 'space') was used to describe participants in the Angkasawan program (note its similarity with the Indonesian term antariksawan ). Plans of the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch its crewed Gaganyaan spacecraft have spurred at times public discussion if another term than astronaut should be used for the crew members, suggesting vyomanaut (from
3996-702: The MiG-15 . An immediately available stop-gap in the shape of the Gloster Meteor F.8 was operated by the RAAF in Korea from July 1951. (After its less-than-satisfactory performance against MiGs, the Meteor was replaced from 1954 by the CAC Sabre – an Australian-built, up-engined variant of the F-86. ) The Panther was the primary jet fighter and ground-attack aircraft of both the US Navy and USMC during
4107-809: The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) to address these issues. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Study in which astronauts (including former ISS commanders Leroy Chiao and Gennady Padalka ) perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts to diagnose and potentially treat hundreds of medical conditions in space. This study's techniques are now being applied to cover professional and Olympic sports injuries as well as ultrasound performed by non-expert operators in medical and high school students. It
4218-618: The Rolls-Royce RB.44 Tay . The other engine that had been tested was the Allison J33-A-16. The armament was a quartet of 20mm guns, the Navy having already switched to this caliber (as opposed to the USAAF/USAF which continued to use .50 caliber M2/M3 guns). In addition, the Panther was soon armed with underwing air-to-ground rockets and up to 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs. From 1946, interest in developing an aircraft that harnessed
4329-705: The Sanskrit word vyoman meaning 'sky' or 'space') or gagannaut (from the Sanskrit word gagan for 'sky'). In Finland , the NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra , a Finnish American , has sometimes been referred to as sisunautti , from the Finnish word sisu . Across Germanic languages, the word for "astronaut" typically translates to "space traveler", as it does with German's Raumfahrer , Dutch's ruimtevaarder , Swedish's rymdfarare , and Norwegian's romfarer . As of 2021 in
4440-596: The Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. On 30 May 2020, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken became the first astronauts to launch on a private crewed spacecraft, Crew Dragon . The youngest person to reach space is Oliver Daemen , who was 18 years and 11 months old when he made a suborbital spaceflight on Blue Origin NS-16 . Daemen, who was a commercial passenger aboard the New Shepard , broke the record of Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov , who
4551-785: The T-28 Trojan , T-33 Shooting Star , and F9F Panther , Cernan became a Naval Aviator , flying FJ-4 Fury and A-4 Skyhawk jets in Attack Squadrons 126 and 113 . Upon completion of his assignment in NAS Miramar , California , he finished his education in 1963 at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School with a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering . During his naval career, Cernan logged more than 5,000 hours of flying time, including 4,800 hours in jet aircraft . Cernan also made at least 200 successful landings on aircraft carriers . In October 1963, NASA selected Cernan as one of
Gene Cernan - Misplaced Pages Continue
4662-498: The planet Mars , may substantially damage the gastrointestinal tissues of astronauts. The studies support earlier work that found such journeys could significantly damage the brains of astronauts, and age them prematurely. Researchers in 2018 reported, after detecting the presence on the International Space Station (ISS) of five Enterobacter bugandensis bacterial strains, none pathogenic to humans, that microorganisms on ISS should be carefully monitored to continue assuring
4773-513: The third group of astronauts to participate in the Gemini and Apollo space programs. Cernan was originally selected with Thomas Stafford as backup pilot for Gemini 9. When the prime crew of Elliot See and Charles Bassett was killed in the crash of NASA T-38A "901" (USAF serial 63–8181) at Lambert Field , Missouri , on February 28, 1966, the backup crew became the prime crew—the first time in NASA history this happened. Gemini 9A encountered
4884-530: The " Vomit Comet ," the nickname given to a pair of modified KC-135s (retired in 2000 and 2004, respectively, and replaced in 2005 with a C-9 ) which perform parabolic flights. Astronauts are also required to accumulate a number of flight hours in high-performance jet aircraft. This is mostly done in T-38 jet aircraft out of Ellington Field , due to its proximity to the Johnson Space Center . Ellington Field
4995-532: The 100 kilometers (54 nautical miles) line, qualifying him by the international definition of spaceflight. Walker had joined the US Army Air Force but was not a member during his flight. The first people in space who had never been a member of any country's armed forces were both Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov aboard Voskhod 1 . The first non-governmental space traveler was Byron K. Lichtenberg ,
5106-493: The Apollo rotation as commander of the backup crew of Cernan, Ronald E. Evans , and Joe Engle for Apollo 14 , putting him in position through normal crew rotation to command his own crew on Apollo 17 . Escalating budget cutbacks for NASA brought the number of future missions into question. After the Apollo 18 and Apollo 19 missions were cancelled in September 1970, pressure from the scientific community to shift Harrison Schmitt ,
5217-463: The Army 8th Tank Regiment which was advancing on the rebelling Punta Indio Naval Air Base . The attack destroyed several M4 Sherman tanks while one F9F Panther was shot down. The Argentine Panthers were involved in the general mobilization during the 1965 border clash between Argentina and Chile , but no combat occurred. The type was removed from service during 1969 due to a lack of available spare parts,
5328-457: The Earth was John Glenn , aboard Friendship 7 on 20 February 1962. The first American woman in space was Sally Ride , during Space Shuttle Challenger 's mission STS-7 , on 18 June 1983. In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space aboard STS-47 . Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first person to conduct an extravehicular activity (EVA), (commonly called
5439-524: The European Space Agency envisioned recruiting an astronaut with a physical disability, a category they called "parastronauts", with the intention but not guarantee of spaceflight. The categories of disability considered for the program were individuals with lower limb deficiency (either through amputation or congenital), leg length difference, or a short stature (less than 130 centimetres or 4 feet 3 inches). On 23 November 2022, John McFall
5550-665: The Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 10—the final dress rehearsal mission for the first Apollo lunar landing—on May 18–26, 1969. During the Apollo 10 mission, Cernan and his commander, Tom Stafford , piloted the Lunar Module Snoopy in lunar orbit to within 8.5 nautical miles (15.7 km) of the lunar surface, and successfully executed every phase of a lunar landing up to final powered descent. This provided NASA planners with critical knowledge of technical systems and lunar gravitational conditions to enable Apollo 11 to land on
5661-458: The Moon during the Apollo 13 emergency. The first civilian in space was Valentina Tereshkova aboard Vostok 6 (she also became the first woman in space on that mission). Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the USSR's Air Force, which did not accept female pilots at that time. A month later, Joseph Albert Walker became the first American civilian in space when his X-15 Flight 90 crossed
SECTION 50
#17328581805785772-480: The Moon landings. The fictional main character draws comparisons to and shares similarity with the commander of the Apollo 17 mission, Gene Cernan. Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek ἄστρον ( astron ), meaning 'star', and ναύτης ( nautes ), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard
5883-424: The Moon two months later. Apollo 10 holds the record for the highest speed attained by any crewed vehicle at 39,897 km/h (24,791 mph) – more than 11 km per second — during its return from the Moon on May 26, 1969. Cernan declined the opportunity to walk on the Moon as Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 16 , preferring to risk missing a flight for the opportunity to command his own mission. Cernan moved back into
5994-454: The Moon, which is about his naval and NASA career. He is featured in the space exploration documentary In the Shadow of the Moon in which he said, "truth needs no defense" and "nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the Moon away from me". Cernan also contributed to the book of the same name . Cernan and Neil Armstrong testified before U.S. Congress in 2010 in opposition to
6105-498: The Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) issued a development contract to Grumman to produce a pair of G-75 prototypes, which were given the Navy designation XF9F-1 , in case development of the Skyknight encountered severe problems. Shortly thereafter, Grumman recognised that the G-75 did not have much potential for either performance or growth; the company had already undertaken work on a completely different single-engine day fighter,
6216-541: The Panther for four years, beginning in 1951. The Panther was the Blue Angels' first jet. Some Panthers continued to serve in small numbers into the 1960s. From September 1962, surviving operational Panthers were designated F-9 within the new combined US tri-service designation system. The only foreign buyer of the Panther was the Argentine Naval Aviation , which purchased 28 ex-USN F9F-2B aircraft during 1957;
6327-830: The Russian "kosmos" (космос), meaning "space", also borrowed from Greek κόσμος ). Comparatively recent developments in crewed spaceflight made by China have led to the rise of the term taikonaut (from the Mandarin "tàikōng" ( 太空 ), meaning "space"), although its use is somewhat informal and its origin is unclear. In China, the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps astronauts and their foreign counterparts are all officially called hángtiānyuán ( 航天员 , meaning "heaven navigator" or literally " heaven-sailing staff"). Since 1961, 600 astronauts have flown in space. Until 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by
6438-451: The Russian kosmonavt, such as the Polish : kosmonauta (although Poles also used astronauta , and the two words are considered synonyms). Coinage of the term космонавт has been credited to Soviet aeronautics (or " cosmonautics ") pioneer Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974). The first cosmonaut was Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin , also the first person in space. He was part of
6549-591: The U.S. Naval Postgraduate School . Achieving the rank of captain , he retired from the Navy in 1976. Cernan traveled into space three times and to the Moon twice: as pilot of Gemini 9A in June 1966, as lunar module pilot of Apollo 10 in May 1969, and as commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo lunar landing . Cernan was also a backup crew member of the Gemini 12 , Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions. Cernan
6660-660: The United States, astronaut status is conferred on a person depending on the authorizing agency: On July 20, 2021, the FAA issued an order redefining the eligibility criteria to be an astronaut in response to the private suborbital spaceflights of Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson . The new criteria states that one must have "[d]emonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety" to qualify as an astronaut. This new definition excludes Bezos and Branson. The first human in space
6771-426: The Yalu River. Two more MiG-15s were downed on 18 November 1950. On 18 November 1952, the American aircraft carrier USS Oriskany and three other carriers were operating in the Sea of Japan conducting air strikes against the North Korean city of Hoeryong . The group launched four F9F's for a combat patrol near the North Korean border with China. The group's leader suffered mechanical problems and returned to
SECTION 60
#17328581805786882-591: The aircraft after it was brought down by a wire strung across a valley in 1951. Future astronaut John Glenn and Boston Red Sox all-star baseball player Ted Williams also flew the F9F as Marine Corps pilots. During 1956, the Panther was withdrawn from frontline combat service, having been displaced by new fighter aircraft, including its swept-wing Cougar derivative. However, the type remained active in secondary roles, such as for training and with U.S. Naval Air Reserve and U.S. Marine Air Reserve units, until 1958. The Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team used
6993-581: The cancellation of the Constellation program , which had been initiated during the George W. Bush administration as part of the Vision for Space Exploration with the aim of returning humans to the Moon and eventually Mars , but was deemed underfunded and unsustainable by the Augustine Commission in 2009. Cernan paired his criticism of the cancellation of Constellation with expressions of skepticism about Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) and Commercial Crew Development (CCDev), NASA's planned replacements for that program's role in supplying cargo and crew to
7104-442: The carrier together with his wingman. Lt Royce Williams of VF-781 , flying off USS Oriskany and his wingman continued on the mission. They then identified seven Soviet Naval Aviation Migs heading towards the task force from the Russian mainland. The naval commanders therefore ordered the two F9Fs to position themselves between the Migs and the carrier group. During this maneuver, four Soviet MiG-15s opened fire, despite
7215-414: The carriers, Williams was out of ammo, but still had one Mig on his tail. The re-appearance of his wingman on the Mig's tail then scared this one off. By that time Williams's plane was so damaged that he could not turn sideways anymore. Oriskany was therefore aligned with the plane, so he could land. After landing, his Panther was found to have 263 hits by cannon shells or fragments and was beyond repair. It
7326-426: The conflict, having shot down a propeller-powered Yak-9 . In the Korean theatre, Panther pilots cumulatively claimed the shooting down of seven Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s . During 1956, the type was withdrawn from front-line combat service, but remained in secondary roles, such as for training and with U.S. Naval Air Reserve and U.S. Marine Air Reserve units, until 1958. The Panther was also the first jet aircraft used by
7437-420: The crew of Apollo 17. Cernan's status as the last person to walk on the Moon means Purdue University is the alma mater of both the first person to walk on the Moon— Neil Armstrong —and the most recent. Cernan is one of only three astronauts to travel to the Moon on two occasions; the others being Jim Lovell and John Young . He is also one of only twelve people to have walked on the Moon . Additionally, he
7548-426: The danger posed by these systems increased over time as more capable AA apparatus was supplied to the North Korean force. Panthers also routinely undertook aerial reconnaissance missions over Korea. Starting in 1952, the Panther began to be supplemented by the newer Cougar derivative in the theatre. Future astronaut Neil Armstrong flew the F9F extensively during the Korean conflict, although he ejected from one of
7659-412: The detachable rear section of the aircraft unintentionally came off; remedial changes were made to avoid any future repetition. During May 1949, carrier suitability trails commenced. In September 1949, the F9F was cleared for flight from aircraft carriers. During the development phase, Grumman decided to change the Panther's engine, selecting the Pratt & Whitney J48 -P-2, a license built version of
7770-581: The documentary The Last Man on the Moon, made by British filmmaker Mark Craig and based on Cernan's 1999 memoir of the same title. The film received the Texas Independent Film Award from Houston Film Critics Society and the Movies for Grownups Award from AARP The Magazine . Cernan was married twice and had one daughter. His first wife was Barbara Jean Atchley, a flight attendant for Continental Airlines , whom he married in 1961. They had one daughter, Tracy (born in 1963). The couple separated in 1980 and divorced in 1981. They remained friends. His second marriage
7881-414: The extensive ABC coverage of the first 3 Space Shuttle launches. Many hours of these ABC broadcasts have been uploaded to YouTube in recent years. From 1987 he was a contributor to ABC News and the weekly segment of its Good Morning America program titled "Breakthrough", which covered health, science, and medicine. In 1999, with co-author Donald A. Davis , he published his memoir The Last Man on
7992-502: The fact that the countries were not at war. Williams opened fire on the tail Mig, which dropped out of formation, and was followed down by Williams' wingman. What followed was a 35-minute dogfight between Williams and six MiG-15s. The Mig 15 was a more capable plane, but Williams nevertheless succeeded in shooting down three more. He ascribed this to both sides doing as they were trained, but the Soviet pilots making mistakes. While heading back to
8103-553: The fighter's rate of roll . The wings featured another innovation in the form of leading edge flaps that generated additional lift while landing; speed brakes were also present on the underside of the fuselage. On 21 November 1947, the prototype Panther conducted its maiden flight , piloted by test pilot Corky Meyer. It was followed by the second prototype only five days later. Initial issues with directional and longitudinal stability were encountered, but were quickly rectified. During one early land-based arresting gear test,
8214-637: The first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37 . Also in 1980, Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez became the first person of Hispanic and black African descent to fly in space, and in 1983, Guion Bluford became the first African American to fly into space. In April 1985, Taylor Wang became the first ethnic Chinese person in space. The first person born in Africa to fly in space was Patrick Baudry (France), in 1985. In 1985, Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud became
8325-454: The first 10 arrived in 1958. Only 24 aircraft were put in service, as the remainder were used as spares. The first flight of an Argentine Panther was in December 1958, and the last aircraft entered into service during January 1961. The catapult on the then only Argentine carrier, ARA Independencia , was not powerful enough to launch the F9F, so the aircraft were land-based. However, in July 1963,
8436-437: The first American to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle, and thus became the first "American cosmonaut". In Chinese, the term Yǔ háng yuán ( 宇航员 , "cosmos navigating personnel") is used for astronauts and cosmonauts in general, while hángtiān yuán ( 航天员 , "navigating celestial-heaven personnel") is used for Chinese astronauts. Here, hángtiān ( 航天 , literally "heaven-navigating", or spaceflight )
8547-548: The first Arab Muslim astronaut in space. In 1988, Abdul Ahad Mohmand became the first Afghan to reach space, spending nine days aboard the Mir space station. With the increase of seats on the Space Shuttle, the U.S. began taking international astronauts. In 1983, Ulf Merbold of West Germany became the first non-US citizen to fly in a US spacecraft. In 1984, Marc Garneau became the first of eight Canadian astronauts to fly in space (through 2010). In 1985, Rodolfo Neri Vela became
8658-418: The first Mexican-born person in space. In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton to fly in space. In 2002, Mark Shuttleworth became the first citizen of an African country to fly in space, as a paying spaceflight participant. In 2003, Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli to fly in space, although he died during a re-entry accident . On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on
8769-460: The first US Navy air victory of the war by shooting down a propeller-powered Yak-9 . Despite their relatively low speed, Panther pilots also claimed seven Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s , for the loss of two F9Fs. The first MiG-15 was downed on 9 November 1950, by Lieutenant Commander William (Bill) Amen of VF-111 flying an F9F-2B, during a UN Command attack on the Sinuiju bridges, near the mouth of
8880-698: The first person in space twice. Space travelers have spent over 41,790 man-days (114.5-man-years) in space, including over 100 astronaut-days of spacewalks . As of 2024 , the man with the longest cumulative time in space is Oleg Kononenko , who has spent over 1100 days in space. Peggy A. Whitson holds the record for the most time in space by a woman, at 675 days. In 1959, when both the United States and Soviet Union were planning, but had yet to launch humans into space, NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan and his Deputy Administrator, Hugh Dryden , discussed whether spacecraft crew members should be called astronauts or cosmonauts . Dryden preferred "cosmonaut", on
8991-498: The first six Soviet citizens, with German Titov , Yevgeny Khrunov , Andriyan Nikolayev , Pavel Popovich , and Grigoriy Nelyubov , who were given the title of pilot-cosmonaut in January 1961. Valentina Tereshkova was the first female cosmonaut and the first and youngest woman to have flown in space with a solo mission on the Vostok 6 in 1963. On 14 March 1995, Norman Thagard became
9102-434: The grounds that flights would occur in and to the broader cosmos , while the "astro" prefix suggested flight specifically to the stars . Most NASA Space Task Group members preferred "astronaut", which survived by common usage as the preferred American term. When the Soviet Union launched the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin in 1961, they chose a term which anglicizes to "cosmonaut". A professional space traveler
9213-561: The imported Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet, which was also more powerful, at 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) of thrust. Production aircraft were to also be powered by the Nene, built under license by Pratt & Whitney as the J42. Since there was insufficient space within the wings and fuselage to provide sufficient fuel for the thirsty jet engine, the design team opted to add permanently mounted wingtip fuel tanks , which had incidental advantage of improving
9324-509: The increasingly popular swept wing grew and, following concerns that the Panther was inferior to its MiG opponents over the skies of Korea, Grumman launched work on a conversion project, known as Design 93. This effort resulted in a swept-wing derivative, the F9F Cougar , which retained the Panther's designation number. Later stage development work on the Panther continued, being largely focused on engine improvements, expanding fuel capacity, and
9435-510: The lunar surface, or, in one case, a loop around the Moon . Three of the 24— Jim Lovell , John Young and Eugene Cernan —did so twice. As of 17 November 2016 , under the U.S. definition, 558 people qualify as having reached space, above 50 miles (80 km) altitude. Of eight X-15 pilots who exceeded 50 miles (80 km) in altitude, only one, Joseph A. Walker , exceeded 100 kilometers (about 62.1 miles) and he did it two times, becoming
9546-407: The military or by civilian space agencies. With the suborbital flight of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut . The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary, with some focus on the point where the atmosphere becomes so thin that centrifugal force , rather than aerodynamic force , carries a significant portion of
9657-510: The most recent person to walk on the Moon . Before becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in Indiana, and joined the U.S. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). After flight training, he received his naval aviator wings and served as a fighter pilot . In 1963, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from
9768-453: The near-weightlessness of space. Microorganisms have been observed to survive the vacuum of outer space. On 31 December 2012, a NASA -supported study reported that human spaceflight may harm the brain and accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's disease . In October 2015, the NASA Office of Inspector General issued a health hazards report related to space exploration , including
9879-575: The notable exceptions of France and Austria participating in Soyuz TM-7 and Soyuz TM-13 , respectively. An example is Czechoslovak Vladimír Remek , the first cosmonaut from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States , who flew to space in 1978 on a Soyuz-U rocket. Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to travel to space. He was launched aboard Soyuz T-11 , on 2 April 1984. On 23 July 1980, Pham Tuan of Vietnam became
9990-430: The pilots lost were Captains Belyakov and Vandalov, and Lieutenants Pakhomkin and Tarshinov. As the conflict progressed, Panthers became primarily tasked with ground attack missions. Attacks upon hostile anti-aircraft equipment were commonly conducted. This was a risky mission type, with numerous Panthers being damaged or even lost to fire from the same ground batteries that they were seeking to neutralize. Furthermore,
10101-564: The position and structure of the brain have been found in astronauts who have taken trips in space , based on MRI studies . Astronauts who took longer space trips were associated with greater brain changes. Being in space can be physiologically deconditioning on the body. It can affect the otolith organs and adaptive capabilities of the central nervous system . Zero gravity and cosmic rays can cause many implications for astronauts. In October 2018, NASA -funded researchers found that lengthy journeys into outer space , including travel to
10212-544: The second American EVA , the third-ever spacewalk, but overexertion caused by a lack of limb restraints prevented testing of the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit and forced the early termination of the spacewalk. Cernan was also a backup pilot for the Gemini 12 mission. Cernan was selected as the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 7 —although that flight carried no lunar module. Standard crew rotation put him in place as
10323-532: The service opted to replace them with Douglas A-4Q Skyhawks . The Argentine Navy also operated the F-9 Cougar trainer version. Data from United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 General characteristics Performance Armament The F9F Panther was featured in the 1954 Korean War film The Bridges at Toko-Ri starring William Holden , Grace Kelly , Mickey Rooney and Fredric March , and in Men of
10434-512: The sole professional geologist in the active Apollo roster of astronauts, to the crew of Apollo 17, the final scheduled Apollo mission, mounted. In August 1971, NASA named Schmitt as the lunar module pilot for Apollo 17, which meant the original LM pilot Joe Engle lost his opportunity to walk on the Moon. Cernan fought to keep his crew together; given the choice of flying with Schmitt as LMP or seeing his entire crew removed from Apollo 17, Cernan chose to fly with Schmitt. Cernan eventually came to have
10545-579: The term astronaut for members of its Astronaut Corps . By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Federal Space Agency (or its predecessor, the Soviet space program ) is called a cosmonaut in English texts. The word is an Anglicization of kosmonavt (Russian: космонавт Russian pronunciation: [kəsmɐˈnaft] ). Other countries of the former Eastern Bloc use variations of
10656-599: The term became more common in 2003 when China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into space aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. This is the term used by Xinhua News Agency in the English version of the Chinese People's Daily since the advent of the Chinese space program. The origin of the term is unclear; as early as May 1998, Chiew Lee Yih ( 趙裡昱 ) from Malaysia used it in newsgroups . For its 2022 Astronaut Group ,
10767-826: The use of alternative munitions. In 1949, the Panther was considered by the Australian government, as a possible locally-built replacement for the Mustang Mk 23 and De Havilland Vampire then operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The other designs considered initially were an Australian design, the CAC CA-23 (an unconventional, twin-jet all-weather fighter ) and the Hawker P.1081 . By mid-1950, however, RAAF Mustangs were in action in Korea and seen as highly vulnerable to
10878-691: The weight of the flight object. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed the Kármán line , at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometres (50 mi) are awarded astronaut wings . As of 17 November 2016 , 552 people from 36 countries have reached 100 km (62 mi) or more in altitude, of whom 549 reached low Earth orbit or beyond. Of these, 24 people have traveled beyond low Earth orbit, either to lunar orbit,
10989-442: Was Argentina , where it became the first jet aircraft to be operated by the Argentine Naval Aviation . It was operated mainly from land, as the catapults of the aircraft carrier ARA Independencia lacked sufficient power to readily launch the F9F. Several Panthers participated in the 1963 Argentine Navy Revolt , firing upon Argentine Army forces sent to quell the revolt. During 1969, it was withdrawn from Argentine service due to
11100-487: Was Dennis Tito on board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-3 on 28 April 2001. The first person to fly on an entirely privately funded mission was Mike Melvill , piloting SpaceShipOne flight 15P on a suborbital journey, although he was a test pilot employed by Scaled Composites and not an actual paying space tourist. Jared Isaacman was the first person to self-fund a mission to orbit, commanding Inspiration4 in 2021. Nine others have paid Space Adventures to fly to
11211-452: Was 25 years old when he flew Vostok 2 . Titov remains the youngest human to reach orbit ; he rounded the planet 17 times. Titov was also the first person to suffer space sickness and the first person to sleep in space, twice. The oldest person to reach space is William Shatner , who was 90 years old when he made a suborbital spaceflight on Blue Origin NS-18 . The oldest person to reach orbit
11322-443: Was Soviet Yuri Gagarin , who was launched on 12 April 1961, aboard Vostok 1 and orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes. The first woman in space was Soviet Valentina Tereshkova , who launched on 16 June 1963, aboard Vostok 6 and orbited Earth for almost three days. Alan Shepard became the first American and second person in space on 5 May 1961, on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight aboard Freedom 7 . The first American to orbit
11433-776: Was born on March 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois ; he was the son of Andrew George Cernan (1904–1967) and Rose Cernan ( née Cihlar; 1898–1991). His father was of Slovak descent and his mother was of Czech ancestry. He had one older sister, Dolores Ann (1929–2019). Cernan grew up in the Illinois towns of Bellwood and Maywood . He was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Second Class . After attending McKinley Elementary School in Bellwood, and graduating from Proviso Township High School in Maywood in 1952, he studied at Purdue University where he became
11544-586: Was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1982. On July 2, 1974, Cernan was a roaster of Don Rickles on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast . At the end of the roast, Rickles—who attended the Apollo 17 launch—paid tribute to Cernan as a "delightful, wonderful, great hero". In the 1998 Primetime Emmy Award -winning HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon , Cernan was portrayed by Daniel Hugh Kelly . The audio commentary for
11655-547: Was initially limited to military pilots. The earliest astronauts for both the US and the USSR tended to be jet fighter pilots, and were often test pilots. Once selected, NASA astronauts go through twenty months of training in a variety of areas, including training for extravehicular activity in a facility such as NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory . Astronauts-in-training (astronaut candidates) may also experience short periods of weightlessness ( microgravity ) in an aircraft called
11766-411: Was later adapted into "Tracy's Song" by pop-rock band No More Kings . The story is inaccurate, as Cernan wrote her initials in the dust, not on a rock. He states in the 2014 documentary The Last Man on the Moon that he wrote them in the lunar dust as he left the rover to return to the LM and Earth. The true story of leaving the initials on the lunar surface was prominently mentioned in " The Last Walt ",
11877-462: Was selected to be the first ESA parastronaut. With the rise of space tourism , NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term " spaceflight participant " to distinguish those space travelers from professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies. While no nation other than Russia (and previously the Soviet Union), the United States, and China have launched
11988-500: Was the establishment of the annual International Astronautical Congress in 1950, and the subsequent founding of the International Astronautical Federation the following year. NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond. NASA also uses the term as a title for those selected to join its Astronaut Corps . The European Space Agency similarly uses
12099-715: Was therefore pushed overboard. The engagement is little-known for two reasons. The US feared that publication of the incident could increase tensions with the Soviet Union. Another reason was the involvement of the US National Security Agency (NSA) – the existence of which was then top secret – in planning the mission; the MiGs were intercepted as a result of intelligence provided by the NSA. The four MiGs that were shot down were flown by Soviet Naval Aviation pilots: Russian sources confirmed Williams' claims, 40 years later, stating
12210-483: Was to Janis Ellen "Nanna" Cernan ( née Jones; 1939–2021), which lasted for nearly 30 years from 1987 until his death. Cernan gained two step-daughters, Kelly and Danielle. Cernan died in a hospital in Houston on January 16, 2017, at the age of 82. His funeral was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston. He was buried with full military honors at Texas State Cemetery , the first astronaut to be buried there, in
12321-526: Was used. The word may have been inspired by "aeronaut", an older term for an air traveler first applied in 1784 to balloonists . An early use of "astronaut" in a non-fiction publication is Eric Frank Russell 's poem "The Astronaut", appearing in the November 1934 Bulletin of the British Interplanetary Society . The first known formal use of the term astronautics in the scientific community
#577422