Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By Sharon Bogart

On Meeting Astronaut Fred Haise:

It’s March 7th, 2009 and I’m in Jackson, MS for the 2009 Region 2 Summit Meeting for Star Trek. I had the pleasure of meeting the famous astronaut Fred Haise who was the lunar module pilot on the almost fatal Apollo 13 mission with astronauts Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert. Haise gave an excellent presentation with slides and videos showing actual footage of the Apollo 13 mission and of the shuttle Enterprise. He covered a lot of information about his career, especially the Apollo 13 mission and he compared the actual mission to the movie. He stated it was not as bad as the movie depicted it. Most of the vulgar language was not true and there was not all that conflict between the crew. That’s all Hollywood. What he remembers most about the mission are the views from the window and the weightlessness and then of course there was the trauma from the explosions. He talked about his work after the mission, including a terrible accident that occurred when his plane crashed, resulting in over 65% of his body being badly burned. He even showed photos of himself after the crash, which were quite graphic.

In his early years, while in college, he thought about becoming a journalist, but then enlisted during the Korean War, went through the Naval Aviation Cadet program, and became a marine fighter pilot. After 20 years of this, and also hearing Kennedy’s speech about man going to the moon, he decided to become an astronaut. Haise also flew 5 test flights on the space shuttle Enterprise in 1977 and continued to work with NASA including 17 years with Northrop Grummann. He is now retired and enjoying his grandchildren.

After the presentation, there was a Q & A session and then he autographed pictures of which I am the proud owner of one. I found him to be an excellent and interesting speaker and very down to earth. It was an honor and a privilege to meet him.

On another note, he stated that he is a Star Trek fan and enjoyed all the series and movies.

Meeting My First Klingon:

I also met my first Klingon at the Region 2 Summit meeting. I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into, but I had my suspicisions. When I entered the room, there she was, a female Klingon warrior; dark skinned with head ridges and wearing leather. She was what I imagined a Klingon to be. Was I nervous? Absolutely! First, she had us all sit in a circle and proceeded to give us some background information concerning Klingons and their customs. One custom was that Klingons never hide their hands. They should always be visible, never hidden behind their back, or in their pockets. This shows you have nothing to hide and that you are ready for anything. She also demonstrated how a female Klingon showed her interest in the opposite sex: by going up to him, much like a cat, and in a low, guttural voice start purring. If the male shows no interest, one of his responses would be to say “My blood runs cold” in a low deep voice, turning his head away at the same time. She then went into teaching us some basic Klingon words and had each of us in turn repeat them. Some got it the first time, some didn’t. I must be part Klingon, because I didn’t receive her wrath like some did. Next, a Klingon chef showed us some of her culinary delights and we all had the pleasure of partaking. Don’t ask me what they were, because I couldn’t tell you. Not in Klingon words that is. To show our appreciation and how good the food tasted, we were expected to make these low, growling noises that sounded something like “Argh”. By the way, you never, ever make a Klingon cook mad or show displeasure. Finally, the Klingon warrior demonstrated some self defense moves, and which I had the honor of participating. Personally I think it was the Federation uniform that did me in. I mean, come on, a Klingon give up the opportunity to show their strength and cunning in front of puny humans? At one point, I think I surprised her by my strong grip, but she had more experience than I and, well, you get the idea. It wasn’t a pretty sight!

All in all, it was a fun, informative experience and one I will never forget. My favorite part was learning the Klingon language, and I hope to learn more.

Starfleet and Region 2 Links:

http://www.region2.org/usscontinuum/mainpage.html (USS Continuum website)

www.region2.org (Region 2 website)

www.sfi.org (Starfleet website)

See Also:

Starfleet Region 2 Meeting 6-8 March 2009