‘Godspeed and War Eagle’: Remembering the most Auburn space mission ever

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Columbia Space Shuttle astronauts Commander Ken Mattingly, foreground, and Pilot Henry Hartsfield salute President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, upon safely landing the Space Shuttle Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base on July 4, 1982 after a week in orbit.Auburn is basically Astronaut U. The school just can’t seem to stop producing space men. And space women. And NASA engineers. Even NASA historians.

That quasi-controversial “First Man” movie? Yep, it’s based on a Neil Armstrong biography penned by a retired, Auburn-hat wearing Auburn professor emeritus, a book that, save for a 1967 tragedy, easily could have been about an Auburn grad astronaut who–true…