Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford - a Man of FIRSTS - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 33.096 W 097° 34.981
14S E 628432 N 3935139
Lt. General Stafford has achieved so many FIRSTS, they're difficult to count.
Waymark Code: WMM1P3
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/03/2014
Views: 4
Born on September 17, 1930, Stafford had an illustrious career in the Air Force and with NASA. With numerous missions to his credit, with commands during the heyday of space travel, he made six rendezvous in space and logged 507 hours of space flight. He has flown over 120 different types of fixed wing and rotary aircraft and three different types of spacecraft. He held several high-level positions in the Air Force, and retired in November 1979.
Just to name a few, he achieved the following FIRSTS:
- December 15-16, 1965: FIRST rendezvous in space
- June 3-6, 1966: FIRST space walk around the world with three different rendezvous
- May 18-26, 1969: FIRST flight of lunar module to the moon
- FIRST rendezvous around the moon
- Selected FIRST lunar landing site
- FASTEST: Holder of all time world's speed record at earth re-entry (24,791 mph)
- FIRST International rendezvous with Soviet cosmonauts
- FIRST Brigadier General to fly into space
Located in Stars and Stripes Park, this life-sized sculpture of Lt. Gen. Stafford, sculpted by Leonard McMurry, shows the astronaut in his space gear, holding his helmet. On the granite base, his achievements are engraved as follows:
Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford
Astronaut - Author
Test Pilot - Fighter Pilot
Commander Gemini IX / Pilot Gemini VI
June 3-6, 1966
First space walk
around the world
3 different rendezvous
Closest touchdown of
Mercury, Gemini
or Apollo programs
Dec. 15-16, 1965
First rendezvous in
space
Commander Apollo X
May 18-26, 1969
First flight of lunar module to the moon
First rendezvous around moon
Selected first lunar landing site
Holder of all time world's speed
record at earth re-entry 24,791 m p h
Commander Apollo-Soyuz
July 15-24, 1975
First international rendezvous with Soviet cosmonauts
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