"This emotional connection": a few words with Grand Marshal Scott Altman on retirement at the UI

CHAMPAIGN – Scott "Scooter" Altman, former retired astronaut and alumnus of the University of Illinois.

In April, the Lincoln native – who flew two space shuttle missions and commanded two others – was inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame during a ceremony at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the presence of his wife Jill, his parents Fred and Sharon Altman from Beijing. three sons and their relatives, "a whole group of people from my company and 10 from my neighbors in Georgetown" in Washington, DC

At 18 hours. Today, Altman – whose resume also includes the Navy test pilot, the veteran of the Southern Watch operation and the "Top Gun" waterfall pilot – will be the grand marshal of the rally of the reunion of the unemployment insurance.

"I was surprised but also very honored," said Altman, 59, who will fly alone for the engagement, in which he will drive the parade route in a 1963 Chevrolet Impala convertible.

"It's a pleasure to be able to go back to campus," continued Altman, who graduated with a Bachelor of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in 1981 and received the College of Engineering Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 2011. "It was a great year for me, I am very moved to watch everything that happens, I do not necessarily deserve it, but my stay in Illinois has been invaluable, so I 'm not sure. I can not wait to revive some of these memories. "

Earlier this week, Altman was in Alaska on behalf of his company ASRC Federal Space and Defense, which he joined after retiring from NASA in 2010. During a stopover in Anchorage, he spoke to The News-Gazette about his stay in Illinois. Tom Cruise lives and works in weightlessness.

Six Illini climbed into space: Steve Nagel, Dale Gardner, Joe Tanner, Danville, Lee Archambault, Mike Hopkins and you. Why do you think Illinois sent so many astronauts?

I think this shows the quality of education that you can get in Illinois. He gets up anywhere. I flew with people from MIT, Columbia, Georgia Tech, but I always felt as if my background in Illinois was preparing me as well as any of them.

Aside from academics, has your time at university prepared you in other ways?

Being a member of Sigma Chi really helped me understand life in the Navy. A squadron looks a lot like a fraternity. The same is true for NASA. The crew is like your family.

What more do you expect on campus this weekend?

I'm going to see my old brotherhood and Sigma Chis. I will also visit the Department of Aerospace Engineering. One of the teachers was at the user interface when I was studying there.

He was a year ahead of me. We also worked together at NASA headquarters in 2004. I worked for him. Mike Lembeck is back in the aerospace engineering department.

Was stealing jet planes or spaceships a childhood dream in Beijing?

I wanted to be a pilot from the age of 3 years old. We watched an old TV series called "Sky King" about this guy who had a Cessna plane and flew over and solved mysteries. He had a niece named Penny who accompanied him. I told my parents: "When I grow up, I want to be a pilot and if I have a daughter, I'll call her Penny." I had all the boys.

And to be honest, when I was training in cleanliness, we had a painting. Whenever I completed a successful "mission", I received a gold star. When I finished the painting, I had a choice between a plane ride and a new pair of cowboy boots because I also liked Cowboy Sam very much. a series of books for young readers).

My mother often says that she wonders what would have happened if I had chosen the boots.

When you were in high school, you had an appointment at the US Air Force Academy. How did you get to Illinois?

I grew up in Illinois and I thought I needed to be part of the air force to become a pilot. … During my physical preinduction, they said, "Altman, you're too tall to be a pilot." I am 6-4, but my sitting height was 39 inches and the maximum height was 38 inches. I had short legs and long torso.

I decided to work in aircraft as an engineer. I have therefore looked for the best engineering school in which I can go. It was Illinois. Because I was an engineering student in Illinois, the Navy sent me a postcard and asked me if I was interested in energy (nuclear ). I sent it back and I said, "No, but send me pictures of planes."

They even sent me a book on naval aviation, which featured a seat height of up to 41 inches. I called the recruiter … and joined the Navy.

After one of your cruises, you were selected as Tom Cruise's air stuntman in "Top Gun", and you had the chance to play those memorable scenes where Maverick buzzes the tower and gives "the bird" to the Russian pilot MiG while he was flying upside down plane. Fun stories from the series?

A story that put me in my place: we were filming in the area of ​​our squadron. Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer were going to be there. There were these girls who came to meet Tom with hope.

So, they sit on the couch in the waiting room, which looks like the meeting place of the squadron. There were single drivers sitting around, so I said, "Let me help you." I went to see the girls and told them, "Hey, how would you like to meet real Navy pilots?" They said, "No, we'll wait for Tom."

Tom Cruise was an interesting guy. He really paid attention to the briefings … and he became so interested in the plane that he became a pilot.

Are you interested in seeing more "Top Gun: Maverick", coming out in 2020?

I really want to see more. People keep asking me, "Are you going to be new?" I tell everyone the same thing: "My cell phone is on." "They call, I'm ready."

(However), I think I should be an extra in the back. They're not flying the F-14 anymore and I'm not in the navy.

You were part of NASA's group of 15 astronauts. What is the story behind the nickname of your selection class, the flying snail?

What happened is that the class before us tried to name us Slugs because our class was delayed in reporting. I interviewed in summer 94 while I was on a boat in the Persian Gulf. The call was held in December 1994 and the date of my report was March 95. They said, "You are slow, you are slugs."

We decided we were slugs with class, and we had a Frenchman with us, so we would be The Flying Snail. We actually had two Frenchmen, including Jean-Loup Chrestien, the first Frenchman to fly in space.

What feeling did you feel the first time you looked out the Space Shuttle window and saw the Earth?

It was uphill. You start from the platform and fly in space, head down with the earth below you. As you approach, I saw the horizon of the earth with the stars behind him. It was like, wow. Then it was like, go back to work.

What's the coolest thing you've seen on Earth?

Illinois. It was this emotional connection. During my first mission, we spent 16 days in orbit. During the first 14 days it was cloudy or we did not have the right attitude to look down.

Finally, the penultimate day, we made a pass and I looked at World Map to see that we arrived above St. Louis. It was clear and I could have a picture of my hometown and Champaign. All I knew, the people who loved me were all there. It was just something.

Food of the favorite space?

Shrimp cocktail. It's a little spicy, and spicy foods tend to taste great up there.

Were you able to keep your orange jumpsuit when you retired?

No, they keep them. I kept my NASA blue flight suit and a NASA flight jacket that I wore with the T-38. I will wear the blue flying suit when I talk in schools.

I was thinking of wearing a NASA jersey and flight jacket (for the parade).

Are you in great demand for presentations?

I do it from time to time. The week after the reunion, I will give a lecture in Chicago organized by a brother of the fraternity. I have lectured in England, Portugal. I am not yet retired. I always have a full time job, so it 's hard to work there sometimes.

But it's always fun to go out and talk to people and let them know that there is still NASA and that exciting things are coming out – commercial flights on the moon and preparations for Mars.

If Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos gave you a ticket on one of their commercial flights, would you go?

I would certainly do it. The call I received while hanging up (taken from this interview) came from someone who was considering a possible Hubble repair mission to repair faulty gyroscopes. Now I have to convince my wife.