Richard F. Gordon Jr.’s life path took him from North Kitsap High School (Class of 1947) to the Moon.
Gordon, an astronaut who served as command module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, died on Nov. 6 in San Marcos, California. He was 88.
As you know, Richard Gordon Elementary School in Kingston was named for him. Here are some of the lessons he left us.
Education: He was a science, technology, engineering and math role model before STEM entered the academic lexicon. A local kid grew up, became a naval aviator and astronaut, and flew in space — what greater inspiration could a local student have to pursue STEM studies?
Courage: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?,” Robert Browning wrote, suggesting that, to achieve anything worthwhile, a person should attempt even those things that may turn out to be impossible. Willing to take that risk, and strapped into a module propelled into space by more than 1 million pounds of fuel, Gordon and his fellow astronauts were the epitome of courage.
Our fragility: Gordon and his colleagues reminded us of what a close-knit community this planet is, of the fragility of this place we share. “I think when you look at the Earth from a perspective of 240,000 miles away, we have a different perspective of the Earth,” he said in a 1999 interview for a NASA oral history project. “From 240,000 miles away, it’s very beautiful. It portrays this great amount of fragility. A very delicate
planet sitting out there in the blackest — it’s the blackest black you’ll ever see … It is a startling picture.”
(Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins said in 2009, “I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of 100,000 miles their outlook could be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument silenced. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding, for homogeneous treatment. The earth must become as it appears: blue and white, not capitalist or Communist; blue and white, not rich or poor; blue and white, not envious or envied.”)
After graduating from North Kitsap, Gordon earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Washington, became a Navy aviator in 1953, served as a flight test pilot from 1957 to 1960, set a Los Angeles-to-New York air speed record, and became a NASA astronaut in 1963. He completed two space flights, logging a total of 315 hours and 53 minutes in space. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1972, and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1982 and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1993.
North Kitsap School District spokeswoman Jenn Markaryan said Richard Gordon Elementary “celebrates his love of learning and adventure in their school-wide efforts each day,” and “We will continue to honor and cherish Mr. Gordon’s life and work at Richard Gordon Elementary.”
Thank you, Capt. Gordon, and Godspeed on your final flight.
