YOU SAY AT THE END OF YOUR ARTICLE THAT THERE WAS NO “MAJOR TOM” IN SPACEW HISTORY. WELL I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH THIS AS THE FOLLOWING WILL SHOW.
The United States Air Force rank of Major was held by several early astronauts (most of whom were officers in the USAF or the United States Navy) during at least one of their flights, including Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, Jim McDivitt, Ed White, Tom Stafford, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Donn Eisele.
As the above list shows, there actually was one real “Major Tom” in orbit during the 1960s, USAF Major Thomas P. Stafford, who flew on the Gemini 6A mission. Due to the practice that emerged in 1965 of giving military astronauts promotions following their flights, Stafford was a Lieutenant Colonel by the time of his next flight (Gemini 9A). The claim in The Straight Dope that there was never a historical “Major Tom” is thus incorrect.
I HOPE THAT THIS HELPS ANYONE AS INTERESTED IN MAJOR TOM AS I AM.
Howdy. Welcome to the boards! It’s customary to quote the cited article, such as this one, in which Cecil says yes, there was a guy named Tom with the rank of Major, but no, he didn’t go cartwheeling off into space never to be seen again.
Note that the song refers to a trip to the moon. (“High above the moon.”) Hence Cecil mentions Apollo astronauts and their ranks at the time of their Apollo flights.
Please note that the article in question is not a Straight Dope Column by Cecil Adams, but a Straight Dope Staff Report by SDSTAFF Songbird. Hence its quite proper inclusion in this forum.
I liked Songbird’s article, but I had to smile at the phrase
implying both that there is some accreditation in the study of Bowie literature, and with the word “most” that there are a considerable number of Doctors of Bowie, not without some professional dissention amongst the ranks.
I had to smile, too. BUT–Bowie has a large body of work, and he’s been around for, what, 40 years? I’ll wager there are more than a few fans out there who know everything there is to know about The Thin White Duke.
Well, I’d say there’s at least on person who’s done some study and would count as an expert:
David Pullman, the financial expert who raised $55 million $55 million through the sale of bonds backed by the future royalties of David Bowie music. (See www.pullmanbonds.com).
It makes double the work when I want to quote your cite.
