Houston, we have a catchphrase. But who exactly coined it and why?
One reply on “Where Did the NASA Expression “Steely-Eyed Missile Man” Come From?”
As the legend goes, the first publicized use of the phrase at Mission Control was during 1st stage ascent of Apollo 12 when John Aaron instructed the crew to “switch SCE to Aux” (Signal Conditioning Electronics) to fix a telemetry problem that was threatening the mission. To declare someone a “Steely-eyed missile man” was a compliment of the highest order and obviously a long-held tradition afforded only when someone proved themself to be a TOTAL BADASS. That’s as far as I know, but there’s probably more than a few back stories that pre-date Apollo 12.
One reply on “Where Did the NASA Expression “Steely-Eyed Missile Man” Come From?”
As the legend goes, the first publicized use of the phrase at Mission Control was during 1st stage ascent of Apollo 12 when John Aaron instructed the crew to “switch SCE to Aux” (Signal Conditioning Electronics) to fix a telemetry problem that was threatening the mission. To declare someone a “Steely-eyed missile man” was a compliment of the highest order and obviously a long-held tradition afforded only when someone proved themself to be a TOTAL BADASS. That’s as far as I know, but there’s probably more than a few back stories that pre-date Apollo 12.