CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Four shuttle commanders joined the ranks of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo pioneers in the Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday during a ceremony rich with patriotic tunes and tales from space missions.
Several hundred people gathered around a temporary stage at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to see Robert Crippen, Joe Engle, Richard Truly and Rick Hauck receive gold medals for the occasion as previous recipients looked on.
The ceremony included a bald eagle that flew an impromptu circle over the crowd while the astronauts spoke. Several of the birds live on the wilderness expanse of Kennedy Space Center.
"I think it is marvelous with this nation at war that we take the time to recognize things that are so important to our country and the space program has to be very close to the top of the list," Truly said.
"To even have my name mentioned along with the folks up on the stage is somewhat overwhelming," said Crippen, who piloted the first shuttle mission in 1981. "And to be selected with three of my best friends makes it extra special, too."
Engle, who commanded Columbia's second flight, expressed similar feelings.
"I'm humbled by this whole experience," he said. Truly, who served almost three years as NASA Administrator after flying two shuttle missions, said his shuttle flights were the most rewarding tasks of his distinguished career.
"I have seen this agency from the bottom to the top," he said. "Sometimes I think it is better at the bottom."
Hauck, commander of the first shuttle flight after the Challenger disaster, added a touch of remembrance to the occasion in recalling the Challenger crew lost in 1986.
After the problems with the shuttle fleet were fixed, astronauts lined up right away for the next mission, he said.
"All of us who were pilots in the Astronaut Office wanted to fly that mission," he said. "I will not forget the day Dick Truly came down to Houston and asked me to command that flight."
A committee of former flight directors, journalists and a space historian chose the inductees based on the pioneering nature of the early shuttle missions.
John Young, who commanded the first shuttle flight, said Crippen was responsible for its success.
"He really did save the STS-1 mission," Young explained. "He put the landing gear down."
Engle and Truly flew flight tests of shuttle Enterprise in California.
Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise explained the ritual Engle and Truly began then.
"Dick and Joe jumped into a car and drove down to where a flight surgeon was waiting by the curb to give them their final checkover. The doors swung open and they half fell out and staggered out of the car with beer cans falling to the ground. I wish I had thought of that."
Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2001 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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