Thomas Patten Stafford

 Thomas Stafford stepped into the clearing on Monday. He was one of the most select group America ever fielded. I was looking at his various biographies this morning and was struck by how different it is from the biographies of the men and women of similar position but significantly less stature and I decided to include this biography of the man because it enables links that let you scroll through the related topics that concern his life and times.

Thomas Stafford (right) shakes hands with cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in the docking tunnel between Apollo and Soyuz in July 1975.Credit: AFP

 When you read the link to his biography and I urge you to, I think you will find it fascinating at how routinely close he came to death in pursuit of the technology and capability we now view as so routine it no longer even makes the news.

Thomas Patten Stafford (September 17, 1930 – March 18, 2024)

One of the last of the Pioneers of my times.