Practical Jokes: all time champeen?
James Gifford
here. Original poster was Yisroel Markov:
=====
Found this on a Russian web site. Can somebody confirm or deny this?
Owen Garriott can claim credit for the most creative practical joke in
space. He played it on Robert Crippen, NASA communications officer,
during his Skylab mission in 1973.
Garriott had a portable recorder and a tape on which his wife had
recorded a few phrases. He used it during a communication session as
follows:
"Skylab, this is Houston, please come in."
"Hello, Houston," responded the station in a cheerful female voice,
"this is Skylab."
After a few seconds, Earth asked: "Who's speaking?"
"Hello, Bob, this is Helen, Owen's wife."
After a few more seconds, Mr. Crippen asked:
"What are you doing there?"
"I decided to bring the boys something to eat. Don't worry, it's all
fresh," the voice from orbit reassured him.
Atfer about a minute of silence, Houston terminated the connection
without a sign-off.
=====
If this is true, it's hands-down the best shen I've ever heard or. True
or false, it made me almost literally fall out of my chair laughing.
(What do you mean "What are you doing there?")
--
| James Gifford * FIX SPAMTRAP TO REPLY |
| So... your philosophy fits in a sig, does it? |
| Heinlein Pages Updated! See www.nitrosyncretic.com |
M C Hamster
news:7053e0702fda3990...@news.teranews.com...
> I'm pasting this over from alt.fan.heinlein for the amusement of those
> here. Original poster was Yisroel Markov:
>
> =====
> Found this on a Russian web site. Can somebody confirm or deny this?
<snip>
> If this is true, it's hands-down the best shen I've ever heard or. True
> or false, it made me almost literally fall out of my chair laughing.
That's even better than the one about the
taco-in-the-word-processing-program one.
It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him though.
I'd imagine every ounce of weight is pretty much calculated, and/or they'd
not look kindly on someone bringing something like that along. So I'm
dubious, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish it were true.
M C Hamster "Big Wheel Keep on Turnin'" -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
M C Hamster
news:102ioei...@corp.supernews.com...
> On 10 Feb 2004 16:30:20 -0600, "M C Hamster" <davo...@speakeasy.hairnet>
wrote:
>
> >
>
> >It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him
though.
> >I'd imagine every ounce of weight is pretty much calculated, and/or
they'd
> >not look kindly on someone bringing something like that along. So I'm
> >dubious, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish it were true.
>
>
> [Q]
> Astronauts on Skylab had fun, too, and even pulled one of the classic
space
> pranks on unsuspecting mission controllers. The ground crew was shocked
when
> they heard a female voice calling down from the orbiting station, and
asked who
> it was. "Houston, Roger. I haven't talked with you for a while," came the
reply
> from space. "This is Helen (Garriott's wife) here in Skylab. The boys
hadn't had
> a home-cooked meal in so long I thought I'd just bring one up. Over."
After
> describing fires in California that could be seen from the station, the
voice
> went on to say, "Oh, oh, I have to cut off now. I see the boys are
floating up
> toward the command module, and I'm not supposed to be talking to you. See
you
> later." As the ground-to-space communicator (capcom) Bob Crippen muttered,
"Bye,
> bye," in a roomful of confused mission controllers, the Skylab crew burst
out in
> laughter. Garriott had made the recording of his wife's voice months
before the
> flight, and brought the tape with him at launch into space. He had
rehearsed the
> whole thing with Crippen and another capcom earlier in order to pull a
prank on
> the rest of Mission Control. Garriott had made recordings for different
> situations that might be seen from space, and waited to use it until about
the
> 40th day of the flight, when the fires in California were visible from the
> station and Crippen was working as capcom. "Bob Crippen was actually the
only
> person not confused," Garriott said. "Crippen knew exactly what was going
on. He
> pulled a little script out of his pocket and he knew exactly what he was
> supposed to say."
> [\Q]
Your tax dollars at work, Opus. (I myself say... Great!)
Al Yellon
news:40295aed$0$46450$45be...@newscene.com:
> "James Gifford" <n...@nitrosyncretic.kom> wrote in message
> news:7053e0702fda3990...@news.teranews.com...
>> I'm pasting this over from alt.fan.heinlein for the amusement of
>> those here. Original poster was Yisroel Markov:
>>
>> =====
>> Found this on a Russian web site. Can somebody confirm or deny this?
>
> <snip>
>
>> If this is true, it's hands-down the best shen I've ever heard or.
>> True or false, it made me almost literally fall out of my chair
>> laughing.
>
> That's even better than the one about the
> taco-in-the-word-processing-program one.
I wonder if Garriott's wife brought the astronauts tacos.
--
"The only thing that would jinx an animated feature film nomination for
'Finding Nemo' is the unexpected interference of a Chicago Cubs fan."
-- Michael Mallory, Daily Variety, December 10, 2003
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rants, comments, reviews: || To contact me use the following:
http://www.yellon.org/links.htm || itghtfr02 (at) sneakemail (dot) com
Opus the Penguin
> Your tax dollars at work, Opus. (I myself say... Great!)
If only they'd had an extra $166 a month to play with.
--
Opus the Penguin (that's my real email addy)
You snipped my sig!
James Gifford
>> Your tax dollars at work, Opus. (I myself say... Great!)
> If only they'd had an extra $166 a month to play with.
Well, they tried to get the rebate, but NASA sent back a little postcard
that got lost.
John Dean
I always understood that each astronaut was allowed a small 'personal'
weight allowance so they could take small items of choice. Usually it would
be photos of home or a little teddy bear. I like this one.
The best practical joke of all time would have been if we'd pulled off the
'all wear monkey masks when they land' for John Glenn's return from his
return to space.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Mary Shafer
<davo...@speakeasy.hairnet> wrote:
> It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him though.
> I'd imagine every ounce of weight is pretty much calculated, and/or they'd
> not look kindly on someone bringing something like that along. So I'm
> dubious, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish it were true.
If it's not, that's not the reason. They took "personal preference
items", like books and tapes, along with them. On all the missions,
except perhaps the very first few, the astronauts were allowed to
carry a small amount of stuff along.
Mary
--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer
mil...@qnet.com
M C Hamster
news:066j20l7nnepb1hsb...@4ax.com...
> On 10 Feb 2004 16:30:20 -0600, "M C Hamster"
> <davo...@speakeasy.hairnet> wrote:
>
> > It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him
though.
> > I'd imagine every ounce of weight is pretty much calculated, and/or
they'd
> > not look kindly on someone bringing something like that along. So I'm
> > dubious, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish it were true.
>
> If it's not, that's not the reason. They took "personal preference
> items", like books and tapes, along with them. On all the missions,
> except perhaps the very first few, the astronauts were allowed to
> carry a small amount of stuff along.
I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they were
bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought a can of
Silly String and really fouled up the works.
kay w
>I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they were
>bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought a can of
>Silly String and really fouled up the works.
Gus Grissom allegedly took a pocketful of crap along with him that may or may
not have contributed to some of the problems he experienced.
How's that for wishy-washy phrasing?
--
But Tonto he was smarter/ And one day said "Kemo Sabe,
Kiss my ass; I bought a boat. / I'm going out to sea."
Lyle Lovett
Blinky the Shark
There was at least one tiff within NASA (and the press, which may have
been what actually caused it within NASA) where they took stuff up and
sold it off for personal profit -- some coins, for instance, come to
mind.
--
Blinky Linux RU 4892F
Stolen SCO Code: http://snipurl.com/stolen
Incredible Rhyme Animal
>Previously, MC said, in part:
>
>>I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they were
>>bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought a can of
>>Silly String and really fouled up the works.
>
>Gus Grissom allegedly took a pocketful of crap along with him that may or may
>not have contributed to some of the problems he experienced.
>
>How's that for wishy-washy phrasing?
"Gus Grissom brought some dimes along with him on the second manned Mercury
flight. "I had brought along two rolls of 50 dimes each to give to the children
of friends, three one-dollar bills, some small models of the capsule and two
sets of pilot's wings," Grissom later wrote in an account of his flight and his
near-drowning after splashdown. "These were all adding weight that I could have
done without." Several of the dimes are now on display at the Astronaut Hall of
Fame in Titusville, Florida."
http://www.airspacemag.com/ASM/Mag/Index/1995/DJ/prfx.html
However, it's unlikely they contributed to the problems on the mission; a
little added weight is unlikely to have made the door blow off when it wasn't
supposed to, and the flight went otherwise okay.
"Narrator: The second U.S. manned spacecraft, Liberty Bell 7 part of the
Mercury series, was launched in July of 1961, with Gus Grissom in command. It
was a completely successful flight until splashdown.
Max: And as they were sitting in the ocean and going through a post-flight
check list and calmly waiting for rescue crews to get to him to recover him.
The hatch blew off and water began immediately pouring into the spacecraft and
he barely got out with life and limb."
http://ktwu.wuacc.edu/journeys/scripts/1311c.html
Presumably this didn't make it easier to float or swim, but again, it's not
what made the door fail.
Incredible Rhyme Animal
>There was at least one tiff within NASA (and the press, which may have
>been what actually caused it within NASA) where they took stuff up and
>sold it off for personal profit -- some coins, for instance, come to
>mind.
"Things got more serious after the next Apollo mission, when Dave Scott, Al
Worden, and the late Jim Irwin took 400 unauthorized first-day stamp covers
with them to the moon. Those were not the first stamps to fly, nor the last;
thousands have since been taken along for the Postal Service on shuttle
flights. The difference was, the stamps from Apollo 15 were sold, violating a
then unwritten prohibition against turning a profit on flown memorabilia.
"The guys were approached by a German in the philatelic business who made a
deal with them to fly the envelopes, with the understanding that they wouldn't
be sold until the Apollo program was over," says Irwin's widow Maryellen. "The
money was to go for our children's education. But within weeks of the flight he
welshed on the deal and began to release them."
None of the three men flew again. NASA confiscated the envelopes but was later
forced to return them after Worden filed suit. Scott, for one, still professes
to be puzzled by the furor they caused. "People had been taking along all sorts
of things," he says. "The envelopes were sitting in the crew room when we went
out for the launch, in full view of everybody. In fact, the astronaut office
had them vacuum-packed and sealed. The people who were supposed to log them in
just missed them."
Incredible Rhyme Animal
> On all the missions,
>except perhaps the very first few, the astronauts were allowed to
>carry a small amount of stuff along.
Grissom had dimes and other instant memorabilia with him on the second flight,
and who knows if Alan Scott had a pen or loose change or something with him on
the first one.
Joe Gillis
Back in the 30s and 40s there was a remarkable fellow named Hugh Troy. He was
known as the "king of the practical jokers." He did things like buy a park
bench of his own and then wait until a policeman came into view, whereupon he
would snatch up his park bench and run! Later, before a judge, he would produce
the receipt and reclaim his property. Judges got tired of this prank pretty
quickly and threatened him with other actions. Hugh was a good friend of a
couple other great practical jokers, Harpo Marx and Douglas Fairbanks.
Hugh made a couple wagers with a prominent gallery-owner. One wager involved
abstract art. Hugh arranged to have his gallery owner friend display a famous
work of abstract art upside-down for the entire month of the artist's show. The
artist was in on the prank as well. Hugh's wager with the gallery owner relied
on his belief that no one in high society would ever notice that the artwork
was upside down. The artist readily agreed with Hugh. The gallery owner lost
the bet. The topsy-turvy artwork hung the entire month without anyone reporting
that it was upside-down!
The same gallery owner, not having learned his lesson the first time, entered
into yet another wager with Hugh Troy. Hugh claimed that even the most cultured
people were far more interested in sensationalism than in esthetics. The
gallery owner disagreed, but was willing to allow hugh to add an additional
item for display during an upcoming retrospective of Van Gogh's works, just to
test his theory. Hugh Troy took a piece of beef and a hammer and whacked it and
twisted it and shaped it and dried it so that it was approximately the shape of
an ear.
Then an elaborate pedestalled velvet-lined dome-covered shadow box was
installed to display the piece of beef and a placque that read, "This is the
ear which Vincent Van Gogh severed from his own head and presented to his
mistress on Christmas Eve 1888 saying, 'Guard this object carefully.'"
Needless to say, crowds gathered around the ear while the paintings themselves
enjoyed only a few viewers from time to time! Hugh Troy again collected on a
sure bet.
=================================================
"I don't mind lying, but I HATE inaccuracy." -- Samuel Butler
Greg Goss
>On 10 Feb 2004 16:30:20 -0600, "M C Hamster"
><davo...@speakeasy.hairnet> wrote:
>
>> It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him though.
>> I'd imagine every ounce of weight is pretty much calculated, and/or they'd
>> not look kindly on someone bringing something like that along. So I'm
>> dubious, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish it were true.
>
>If it's not, that's not the reason. They took "personal preference
>items", like books and tapes, along with them. On all the missions,
>except perhaps the very first few, the astronauts were allowed to
>carry a small amount of stuff along.
The "complete set of Pink Floyd cassettes" in Mir has been mentioned
many times. Of course these days they'd take burned CDs, though.
Greg Goss
>> On 10 Feb 2004 16:30:20 -0600, "M C Hamster"
>> <davo...@speakeasy.hairnet> wrote:
>>
>> > It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him
>> >though.
>
>I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they were
>bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought a can of
>Silly String and really fouled up the works.
They probably examine the personal stuff for "outgassing" potential
and such things. But nobody's going to play a cassette or burned CD
to see what the content is. I bet many of them bring along tapes or
discs.
RM Mentock
> Needless to say, crowds gathered around the ear
Twenty five years ago, an obelisk was erected in front of a
museum in Wyoming, as a monument to women rights. It was
a handcrafted stainless steel shaft, with a slight crook in it. By
itself, it caused some smiles, but that wasn't enough.
One night we fitted a bright red glans on top of it, and tied
two giant balloons around its base. The local paper had a
small public service announcement about a sunrise prayer
meeting there of the local chapter of NOW, everyone
welcome.
For some reason, the monument was disinstalled a couple
months later.
--
RM Mentock
Das hätta ich einfacher sagen können -- Einstein
James Gifford
>> I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they
>> were bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought
>> a can of Silly String and really fouled up the works.
> There was at least one tiff within NASA (and the press, which may have
> been what actually caused it within NASA) where they took stuff up and
> sold it off for personal profit -- some coins, for instance, come to
> mind.
Apollo 15 - they took a large number of postal covers with them, right to
the lunar landing site. On return, they gave most to a German dealer who
was supposed to sit on them for ten years, but he started selling them to
friends and such almost immediately. Such was the attitude towards NASA
and astronauts that this was considered a great breach of ethics, and it
came close to damaging the careers of Scott and Irwin. I think it's
gotten looser over the years, and if Shuttle astronauts want to use part
of their personal allowance to take up coins, covers, stamps, whatever
for personal sale later, they're allowed to.
I have a postal cover orbited on STS-8, the Challenger night launch. This
was done commercially, though, packed in one of the "Getaway Special"
canisters.
James Gifford
> The "complete set of Pink Floyd cassettes" in Mir has been mentioned
> many times. Of course these days they'd take burned CDs, though.
After the oxygen candle incident, a lot of things were burned. :)
James Gifford
> Back in the 30s and 40s there was a remarkable fellow named Hugh Troy.
One of my proletarian heros. I never have found a reliable biography of his
later life, but he certainly set the standards in his early years.
Incredible Rhyme Animal
>Apollo 15 - they took a large number of postal covers with them, right to
>the lunar landing site. On return, they gave most to a German dealer who
>was supposed to sit on them for ten years, but he started selling them to
>friends and such almost immediately.
Huh, I think I read something about that.
Mary Shafer
wrote:
> M C Hamster wrote:
> > "Mary Shafer" <mil...@qnet.com> wrote in message
> > news:066j20l7nnepb1hsb...@4ax.com...
> >> If it's not, that's not the reason. They took "personal preference
> >> items", like books and tapes, along with them. On all the missions,
> >> except perhaps the very first few, the astronauts were allowed to
> >> carry a small amount of stuff along.
>
> > I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they were
> > bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought a can of
> > Silly String and really fouled up the works.
>
> There was at least one tiff within NASA (and the press, which may have
> been what actually caused it within NASA) where they took stuff up and
> sold it off for personal profit -- some coins, for instance, come to
> mind.
Covers, actually, to the moon. Dave Scott was one of the guys
involved. Big scandal at NASA, and the covers were confiscated, but
eventually had to be returned after a suit was filed.
Mary Shafer
Rhyme Animal) wrote:
> None of the three men flew again. NASA confiscated the envelopes but was later
> forced to return them after Worden filed suit. Scott, for one, still professes
> to be puzzled by the furor they caused.
Dave may not have flown again, but the agency had no problem with
making him director of one of the field centers, Dryden. This isn't
something NASA does with people who are in the doghouse. It wasn't
even one of the space centers, but one of the research centers.
Blinky the Shark
> One night we fitted a bright red glans on top of it, and tied two
> giant balloons around its base. The local paper had a small public
> service announcement about a sunrise prayer meeting there of the local
> chapter of NOW, everyone welcome.
A place at which I've often worked during the last several years...er...
erected a fountain in the little grass'n'trees plaza near the front
gate. It's simply a large column, maybe 10 feet tall, with water coming
out the top. I believe it was its first day of operation that someone
gave it the name it still informally has: Viagra Falls.
Blinky the Shark
> On 11 Feb 2004 06:42:12 GMT, Blinky the Shark <no....@box.invalid>
> wrote:
>> M C Hamster wrote:
>> > "Mary Shafer" <mil...@qnet.com> wrote in message
>> > news:066j20l7nnepb1hsb...@4ax.com...
>> >> If it's not, that's not the reason. They took "personal preference
>> >> items", like books and tapes, along with them. On all the missions,
>> >> except perhaps the very first few, the astronauts were allowed to
>> >> carry a small amount of stuff along.
>> > I wonder if it was "anything goes", or if they had to show what they were
>> > bringing and get it cleared. I mean, someone might have brought a can of
>> > Silly String and really fouled up the works.
>> There was at least one tiff within NASA (and the press, which may have
>> been what actually caused it within NASA) where they took stuff up and
>> sold it off for personal profit -- some coins, for instance, come to
>> mind.
> Covers, actually, to the moon. Dave Scott was one of the guys
As for stamps, yes. As for the coins, I'm not familiar with "coin covers".
> involved. Big scandal at NASA, and the covers were confiscated, but
> eventually had to be returned after a suit was filed.
--
Blinky the Shark
> Blinky the Shark <no....@box.invalid> wrote:
>> There was at least one tiff within NASA (and the press, which may have
>> been what actually caused it within NASA) where they took stuff up and
>> sold it off for personal profit -- some coins, for instance, come to
>> mind.
> Apollo 15 - they took a large number of postal covers with them, right to
> I have a postal cover orbited on STS-8, the Challenger night launch. This
> was done commercially, though, packed in one of the "Getaway Special"
> canisters.
Trees: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/13aug_moontrees.htm
Bob Ward
Rhyme Animal) wrote:
Alan Scott?
Perhaps you meant Alan Shepard or David Scott?
Bob Ward
wrote:
I've been tempted to take some paint and a Magic Marker and maker the
local Best Buy store entrance a Stonehenge dedicated to Viagra.
Incredible Rhyme Animal
Rich Clancey
>It sounds unlikely that he'd be able to bring a tape along with him though.
>I'd imagine every ounce of weight is pretty much calculated, and/or they'd
>not look kindly on someone bringing something like that along. So I'm
>dubious, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish it were true.
You get a certain personal allowance of weight for bringing
souvenirs or whatever you want. The Apollo astronauts had a
little side business going hauling keychains and
paperweights into orbit for people who could then brag, "My
keychain has been in outer space."
--
rich clancey
The troublesome ones in a family are usually either
the wits or the idiots. -- George Eliot