Seems Edgar Mitchell is not the only wack job astronaut...

[Archae]

Edgar Mitchell is notorious for his claims about UFO's and psychics, but it looks like the ranks of ex-astronauts have this guy:

#1505: Walter Cunningham

We’ve covered astronauts before, but the case of Walter Cunningham is arguably even sadder than that of Edgar Mitchell. Cunningham is currently giving talks about climate change for the Heartland Institute, and is apparently rather popular amongst the denialist crowd. Yes, 97% of climate scientists agree that the Earth is warming as a result of human action, but they’ve got an astronaut! Who claims that the scientists, all 97% of them, are simply confusing correlation and causation when they claim that carbon emissions cause global warming. Hadn’t thought of that, had they?

How does Cunningham get around the fact that everyone who, you know, actually have expertise in the issues are unimpressed by his observations? Well, as a denialist there is an obvious tactic: He just denies it: “I think only a few climate scientists have bought into this nonsense,” says Cunningham, despite the pretty easily demonstrable falsity of that claim. There is a reason why CPAC, for instance, had to use an astronaut rather than a scientist to deliver that message.

http://americanloons.blogspot.ca/2015/10/1505-walter-cunningham.html

[Ex Lurker]

1. My SO went to a highly competitive magnet high school and an elite college

In meeting many of her friends, I've observed that while they're highly intelligent-even geniuses-several of them are a little...outside the normal parameters in one way or another. And some of them more than a little! I think a brilliant human mind is like a high performance racing engine-immensely powerful, and capable of tremendous output. But it's engineered to very fine tolerances and gets out of tune easily.

[zazen]

4. ha! great metaphor--that made my day :-) n/t

[Downwinder]

2. Don't forget Lisa Nowak.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nowak

[longship]

3. Gordon Cooper, one of the original Mercury astronauts and a total whack job.

I won't malign an obvious talented pilot beyond saying that the extent that he supports space aliens is the extent to which he was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

You did good, Gordo, but you are still cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Too bad that is the legacy you chose.