Poll Space Hero

[MattBaker]

So, I discovered that Space Foundation did a poll about the most popular "space hero" and I was amazed of the results, so I want to to a poll like that again.

Who is your favorite "space hero"?

 

[jedidia]

It's nice to see Gene Krantz making second place. The people that don't fly often get forgotten.

I don't quite see how James Kirk possibly deserves to be on par with Gagarin, or how Elon Musk could measure up to von Braun, but well, it's a public poll after all.

If I had to nominate someone, I'm not really sure which it would be. Probably Sagan or Tsiolkovsky. I think the lack of such prominent figures that can impart the fascination of spaceflight to the common public is why spaceflight isn't very popular anymore nowadays (not to mention that the Tsiolkovsky equation is still the sine qua non for anyone that so much as wants to make a theoretical concept of a spaceship).

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Mmm, a list of greats there, but missing one of my favorites; Story Musgrave.
Too young to have gotten in on the start of the space age, but helped to establish the Skylab set of missions, and was deeply involved in the Shuttle program.

Brilliant idea of using a come-along to get Hubble's doors closed after his repair mission.

Plus the only dude to stand up in the cockpit during a Shuttle deorbit to videotape the plasma stream wash over the orbiter during reentry.

He's "old school", but open to new schools of thought.

Quite a character, sometimes a bit strange, but deserving of a spot in the pantheon of human spaceflight.

 

[Codz]

John Young. He flew on Gemini twice, Apollo twice, and the Shuttle twice. He easily has one of the most impressive career records in the world in my opinion. Not only that but he continued to work at NASA until 2004!

 

[blane]

Braun. Without him, there would have been no American space program. No Young, no Glenn, no Armstrong, no Lovell.

 

[Pinguinboy]

Laika. Without her, human spaceflight would've come very late.

 

[Trainguy]

Gene Kranz, due to his efforts and hard work in all the missions. One of the less glorious heroes of Space, but without him, Lovell, Haise and Swigart (is the spelling right?) wouldn't have made it back.

 

[T.Neo]

I am disappointed that this poll is not multiple choice.

or how Elon Musk could measure up to von Braun

If his rocket venture is ultimately successful, I think you could justifiably say that he could... but at the moment, perhaps not so much.

 

[MattBaker]

I am disappointed that this poll is not multiple choice.

To me everyone of them is a hero in his way, one as an engineer, one as an astronaut etc.
So I thought picking one person you like most is leading to a better result than multiple choice, where 90% of the voters give one part of their vote to Neil Armstrong or John Young.

 

[Napalm42]

I can't say a single favorite, so I have a pantheon of spacemen: Yuri Gagarin, the crew of Apollo 11, Gene Kranz, Von Braun, and a few others whose names escape me at the moment.

My all time favorite fictional spaceman is Jean Luc Picard.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Alexey Leonov is certainly missed in the list.

 

[Star Voyager]

John Young. Here's why:

http://awwyeahjohnyoung.tumblr.com/

He was one of the best pilots, learned how to swagger from Gus Grissom, but he was an office manager from hell. However, in my book, each astronaut is equally awesome and they are all my heroes (including Captain James T. Kirk :thumbup.

 

[insanity]

Sagan. The man made the stars come alive in the minds of countless numbers of kids. I count watching the Cosmos series as one of the things that greatly expanded my perspective and sense of place in the universe. Dr. Sagan's work made the world a better place.

 

[Scruce]

Where's Leonov, Komarov and Gagarin?

I voted 'Other'.

 

[Unstung]

'Favorite astronaut/cosmonaut' and 'favorite space innovator' would work better.

 

[C3PO]

Han Solo? :hide:

 

[Eli13]

Where's Leonov, Komarov and Gagarin?

I voted 'Other'.

Gagarin is on the list. I know, I voted for him.

Hey just saying, it'd scare the crud out of me to go fly into space with 60's tech. Takes a [uber]brave person to do that.

Plus, the first guy in space. Hard to beat.

But all Astro/Cosmonauts are just as equally great.

 

[JEL]

Like a few others have said; it's impossible to choose one over the other. So I'll choose: their mothers! For raising such amazing kids

 

[SiberianTiger]

Han Solo? :hide:

Buzz Lightyear, anyone? :lol:

 

[astrosammy]

Hard question. Propably Musk currently. But the German astronauts are also very inspiring IMHO...