THE SOUTH RUISLIP BOY WHO TURNED ASTRONAUT
INSPIRED ASTRONAUT IS THE ONLY LONDONER TO HAVE BEEN IN SPACE
THE Apollo 11 moon landing may have happened 50 years ago, but we are still awed by the achievement.
A seven-year-old boy from South Ruislip watched the first man on the moon, sparking a mission to become an astronaut – and he is the only Londoner to ever have flown a space shuttle.
When he was still a child, Gregory H Johnson left London and soon became a US Air Force colonel, flying in the Gulf War before being selected from 3,000 applicants to fly two NASA missions on Endeavour, in 2008 and 2011.
The 57-year-old was interviewed by the Evening Standard before he spoke at 50th anniversary celebrations of the moon landing.
He said: “The 50th anniversary is really important to me — when I was seven years old I watched the first lunar landing, that’s when the seed was planted with me as a dream of becoming an astronaut.
“Neil Armstrong was probably my number one inspiration after my parents.”
The astronaut described blast-off from Kennedy Space Centre before reaching the peace of space in the 36-hour journey to the International Space Station: “The launch is really violent and crazy for about eight-and-a-half minutes.
“But after main engine cut off, and we’re stabilised at 17,500mph, I started laughing because you’re just floating.”
Talking about life on board, he said: “With our beautiful planet in the background and floating at zero gravity, it was always a distraction, always amazing.”
He now works on US-Finnish firm Space Nation’s astronaut training programme, and for the US-based Newton’s Road organisation which helps young people work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Neil Armstrong was probably my number one inspiration after my parents Astronaut Gregory H Johnson