Eight astronauts commemorate air races, lunar landing

Tom Gardner

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 10:29 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Former astronaut Eugene Cernan is known as the last man to walk on the moon. But he says that won't last forever.

"Somewhere there is a young boy or a young girl who is going to take that honor away from me," he said Wednesday. "I urge them to take the word 'impossible' out of their book."

Cernan and seven other astronauts touched down in Reno to salute the 36th National Championship Air Races and to observe the 30th anniversary of the first moon walk on July 20, 1969.

He and shuttle commander Curtis Brown were on hand Wednesday to help open the fledgling Heros of Flight Space Museum in downtown Reno and to honor school pupils who won a "Name Your Hero of Flight" essay contest.

Brown, who is set to command the space shuttle Discovery on next month's scheduled mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, did not pass up the chance to note he was a high school sophomore when Cernan made the final moon walk.

"I'm one of those ancient astronauts and wannabe racers," Cernan said.

Brown competed two years ago in the most powerful class at the Reno races, the 400-plus mph Unlimiteds. He is grounded this year because of the scheduled Oct. 28 shuttle launch. He hopes to be back in the skies north of Reno next year during a window in his shuttle duties.

Brown also commanded last fall's Discovery flight with Sen. John Glenn on board. He was six when Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.

Cernan, his flowing shock of pure white hair a marked contrast to Brown's dark regulation-length clip, followed through on the age issue for the school pupils in the audience.

"If we can take a 77-year-old into space, why can't we take a 17-year-old?" he asked. "Put them on the space station for a month."

While looking to the future, Cernan also reflected on the past, praising the pilots who flew the World War II- and Korean War-vintage planes that now compete in the air races alongside contemporary entries.

"I had the opportunity to do what I did in space because of those who preceded me," he said. "We've always built on what we did in the past."

Along with Brown and Cernan, former astronauts Bill Anders, Joseph Engle, and Robert "Hoot" Gibson; Gibson's wife, Rhea Seddon; Richard Gordon and Jim Lovell are grand marshals for this year's air races.

Qualification runs wrapped up on Wednesday. Competition in five classes begins today and continues through Sunday.