Russell Schweickart
Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart is a United States astronaut who received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of his work in the space program.
Schweickart was born on October 25, 1935, in Neptune Township. He attended Manasquan High School before going on to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He built his flying credentials as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and also worked as a test pilot and military flight engineer, developing a broad range of aviation skills across those roles.
Schweickart was later inducted into both the International Space Hall of Fame and the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, two honors that reflect formal recognition by the aerospace community of his contributions as an astronaut. The NASA Distinguished Service Medal he received earlier in his career remains among the concrete markers of that recognition.
Quotes by Russell Schweickart
Things don't 'fall' normally around small cosmic bodies. The local gravity is so low that any lateral velocity has an exaggerated effect. The behavior of objects around asteroids is counter-intuitive, if not absolutely chaotic.
It would have devastating consequences if it hit. There is the serious question of whether, if it is headed toward impact, we will know enough to make a timely decision.
We'll go many years with basically no additional information on where it's headed.
Because of this low gravity, we B612'ers talk about 'docking with' a near Earth object and not 'landing on' one.