Thoughts on the passing of Apollo astronaut Alan Bean

[LongTomH]

Alan Bean Apollo and Skylab astronaut, fourth to walk on the moon, as well as an accomplished artist died at the age of 86.







With Alan Bean's passing only four of the original Apollo moonwalkers remain: Buzz Aldrin, Dave Scott, Charlie Duke and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt. A few years ago, the cartoonist, XKCD created this cartoon predicting how many people would remain alive who have walked on another world:



How many DUers remember the years when we dared to soar into the Solar System.

The Arstechnica article ended with this tribute:

After leaving NASA, most of the other Apollo astronauts moved on to other locations. Bean remained in Houston near Johnson Space Center, where he established his art studio. Through his paintings, he hoped to inspire future explorers of the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere to not only boldly go to these frontiers, but also to bring a little whimsy and humanity with them as they went.

Godspeed and Clear Skies Captain Bean!

[Aristus]

1. A great man.

He will be missed...

[SonofDonald]

2. Another of the Greatest passes

So sad to see these Gentlemen pass on

Captain Bean was an accomplished artist also who would put bits of space exploration relics in his paintings.

[MagickMuffin]

3. I attended a parade for Captain Bean in Fort Worth

I thought it was the biggest most coolest event to hit Fort Worth in quite some time!

[edbermac]

4. Hopefully SpaceX will grab the torch passed to them.

Hope to see another landing in my lifetime.

[lastlib]

5. Rest in Peace, Capt. Bean. Your place is among the stars.

[Martin Eden]

6. I was born about a month before Sputnik

Growing up in the 1960's I witnessed our steps into space and the first walk on the moon. Despite the many problems our country faced, we had an optimism for the future and a can-do attitude.

Where did that go?