I remember Alan Shepard saying that. I listened to that launch on the radio, way back on May 5, 1961. The mission was called Freedom 7, and it was America's first manned space flight (sub-orbital, but into space). It was a very exciting and scary event for those of us listening, as in the prior few years there had been a string of spectacular rocket failures. I remember thinking that Alan Shepard must be borderline crazy to be strapped and bolted into that Mercury capsule. At one point in the countdown, he got impatient with the delays and implored flight control to “light this candle”...
Peggy Noonan has recycled that remark, in the context of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign...
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