Pavel Vinogradov, At 59, Sets New Record As Oldest Spacewalker 32
Florida today reports that cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov on Friday became the oldest person to have completed a spacewalk. From the article: "Working outside the Russian side of the international outpost, Vinogradov and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko put in six hours and 38 minutes of high-flying maintenance work. They set up a plasma physics experiment and retrieved a package that exposed advanced spacecraft materials to the deleterious space environment. They also replaced a reflector that is part of an autonomous rendezvous and docking system that will guide a robotic European space freighter to the station in early June." NASASpaceFlight.com has more details on the spacewalk, as well as the note that Vinogradov edges out "Story Musgrave, who was 58 when he flew the Hubble SM-1 mission in 1993."
Interesting, but does is it a universal policy? (Score:5, Interesting)
How old is their oldest IT or software engineer employee...
I noticed that the Canadian Astronaut, Chris Hadfield, wringing out a wet cloth in microgravity [youtube.com] was getting gray too.
You and I know that the Neck-Beard the Gray is a force to be reckoned with in brain power and efficiency, however Graycial discrimination is still a thing in the tech sector. I started getting gray in my 20's, now in my 30's, it's a sharp contrast to my young looking "baby face". Still, I've had folks consider my apparent age vs my skills and experience (and actual age) frequently -- On paper I look like a great candidate. Show up with gray hair? The job's suddenly not for me. I dyed my hair and my job prospects pick back up, had to turn down the job offers instead of seek them out, and the salaries I was able to negotiate were 10-15% higher. Sometimes at the same company only a few weeks later.
Last decade I decided to be my own boss, so really I was just feeling out the market. (It's always nice to have a plan B). Still interesting to me that that here on Earth if you're getting gray so is your future, but in space no one can see your scalp.