Eight down, four to go

        Al Bean's death yesterday at age 86 leaves only four Moonwalkers still alive. Here's the tally:

Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong: d. 25 August 2012 after coronary by-pass surgery (which should never have been attempted IMHO)
Buzz Aldrin: STILL WITH US, age 88

Apollo 12
Pete Conrad: d. 8 July 1999 after a motorcycle crash.
Al Bean:  d. 26 May 2018, cause uncertain

Apollo 14
Al Shepard: d. 21 July 1998 from complications of leukemia
Ed Mitchell: d. 4 February 2016 under hospice care

Apollo 15
Dave Scott: STILL WITH US, age 85
Jim Irwin: d. 8 August 1991 after a third heart attack, first of the Moonwalkers to die

Apollo 16
John Young: d. 5 January 2018, complications from pneumonia
Charlie Duke: STILL WITH US, age 82

Apollo 17
Gene Cernan: d. 16 January 2017
Harrison "Jack" Schmitt: STILL WITH US, age 82

        I met Al Bean in Houston in 1979. He graciously invited me into his home in a gated community and showed me his famous artwork. He was a gent and a hard worker in space. It's despicable that whippersnappers like Mike Bara are now writing that Bean deliberately ruined the color TV camera during his Moon mission. How the hell would Bara know?

Seven down, five to go

        The sad news of John Young's death yesterday at age 87 prompts me to celebrate the fact that fivefour Moonwalkers are still alive. Here's the tally:

Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong: d. 25 August 2012 after coronary by-pass surgery (which should never have been attempted IMHO)
Buzz Aldrin: STILL WITH US, will be 88 on 20th Jan

Apollo 12
Pete Conrad: d. 8 July 1999 after a motorcycle crash.
Al Bean:  STILL WITH US, age 86

Apollo 14
Al Shepard: d. 21 July 1998 from complications of leukemia
Ed Mitchell: d. 4 February 2016 under hospice care

Apollo 15
Dave Scott: STILL WITH US, age 85
Jim Irwin: d. 8 August 1991 after a third heart attack, first of the Moonwalkers to die

Apollo 16
John Young: d. yesterday, complications from pneumonia
Charlie Duke: STILL WITH US, age 82

Apollo 17
Gene Cernan: d. 16 January 2017
Harrison "Jack" Schmitt: STILL WITH US, age 82

        I have no personal memories of John Young to share, as I have of several other Moonwalkers (see this blogpost for my memoir of Armstrong.) I was accredited to STS-1 and was present at both the launch and landing, but never met its commander. But of course, he truly was a legend. Here's a nice obituary from CollectSpace.

Update:
        As requested by Trekker, here's the tally for the Command Module Pilots, who stayed in lunar orbit while their luckier mates were cavorting on the surface. It's three down, three to go:

Apollo 11
Michael Collins: STILL WITH US, age 88

Apollo 12
Dick Gordon: d. last November 6

Apollo 14
Stu Roosa: d. 1994 from complications of pancreatitis

Apollo 15
Al Worden: STILL WITH US, age 86

Apollo 16
Ken Mattingly: STILL WITH US, age 82

Apollo 17
Ron Evans, d. 1990 of a heart attack in his sleep