The Hualapai Indian Reservation, which owns the so-called Skywalk, paid Aldrin to join its March 20 opening ceremony, according to a Las Vegas public relations firm working with the tribe. Hualapai Chairman Charlie Vaughn and astronaut John Herrington plan to meet him in the middle of the walkway.
7 comments:
Writerfella here --
The first thing that Herrington will say is this: Omigosh, this looks like the simulator we all trained on back in 1994! Looks like we missed IT by that much! And then the glassed-in walkway starts to crack under their feet...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Since Herrington has flown in space on the shuttle, he might say it reminds him of that, too.
Writerfella here --
No, ya missed it! He's being PAID to attend the event! Just like he was PAID to fly on the shuttle! Just like he is being PAID to appear in Chickasaw public relations commercials as 'the first Native American into space'! And wait until he writes the book! It's a good thing Bob Hope is dead or Herrington would be a guest on his show for being 'TFNAIS'. The upshot of that would be that you would be unable to tell just which one was Bob Hope and which one was John Herrington! What a dilemma! What a dichotomy! What a Maroon!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Everybody has to get paid for something. You and I get paid to write, but that doesn't mean we're insincere about it.
I doubt Herrington was in it for the money. I don't think astronauits earn that much:
http://www.lrt.mw.tum.de/en/interessierte/raumfahrt_fuer_dummies.phtml
"This much is certain: astronauts have to be idealists. You cannot make a lot of money as an astronaut. A civilian joining NASA as a new astronaut, gets a gross salary of about $45,000 per year in the beginning (as at the end of 1996)."
http://www.careerprospects.org/briefs/A-D/Astronauts.shtml#earnings
"Astronauts earn standard government salaries ranging from about $65-101,000. Not a lot for what they do."
Also, Herrington apparently wasn't the first Native in space. He was the first tribally enrolled member in space, which isn't quite the same thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_astronauts_by_nationality
Bill Pogue, first launched November 16, 1973, as an inductee to the 5 Civilized Tribes Hall of Fame can lay claim to being the first Native American in space. ... John Herrington, an American citizen first launched November 24, 2002, is the first tribal registered Native American in space (Chickasaw).
Writerfella here --
Thank you, Rob! Now writerfella can flak Bill Pogue up to all of those chucklers who say that Herrington has become the 'real' version of Dawson WalkingBear!! Whew! Missed it by THAT much! writerfella loves being able to be "The PointKiller", the confident critic who painted graffiti on The Tree of Life, who was the engineer who designed The Tower of Babel, who was 'The Man From Poorlock', and who wrote 'Kilroy Was Here' all over the European and Pacific theaters of war in the 1940s.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Writerfella here --
POSTSCRIPTUM --
The point of Rob's counter-post is that Herrington isn't in it for the money. Sorry, but that does not wash. Have you heard that he can't pay his bills, or raise his family, or buy gas for his car, or even afford a three-Martini lunch? Of course not! Like collegiate sports figures, there are 'boons' that you never will hear about which increase any shuttle astronaut's payscale but do not wind up as 'taxable' income. Now that Herrington is famous to a certain degree, it's gonna cost anyone who wants his presence several times over. NASA more or less looks the other way when such matters arrive, as the officials and engineers mostly are trying to justify their own incomes in a day and age when NASA ostensibly is on limited budgets. With all of that, then explain how it is that they are financing the development of the supposed 'Mars Mission'? Perhaps they are being very frugal and saving back out of their housekeeping funds, like Inspector Clouseau's wife...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
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