June 17th, 2016
Recalling astronaut Brandenstein
I examined this framed memento on my office wall the other day and was prompted to check out NASA astronaut Dan Brandenstein on the Internet. I was a reporter at the Whidbey News-Times when the U.S. Navy pilot visited Oak Harbor (He flew 192 combat missions in A-6 Intruders). Brandenstein piloted one space shuttle mission and commanded three others, including the maiden flight of the Endeavor. I can’t recall the sequence of events subsequent to our meeting, but somewhere along the line Brandenstein honored me with a commemorative shuttle patch and a signed document that had acknowledged me as an applicant for the Journalist in Space Project. The April 1986 document was later followed up by a “Dear John” letter. Brandenstein wrote on my document: “Sorry you weren’t ‘the one.’ Best wishes for more success next time.” Brandenstein later served as chief of the Astronaut Office before leaving NASA and the Navy in 1992. A true American hero. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on June 21, 2003. I am honored to have met him. (Names on the shuttle patch include Brandenstein, Creighton, Nagel, Fabian, Lucid, Baudry and Al-Saud.)