RoverAndOut

The eternal optimist, Toast...

You're very good at nearly winning! 2nd in both the first 2 games and down to the last pick in this one! Always the bridesmaid...

Congrats @Banana! It looked fairly likely and I'm glad things didn't get complicated by someone else winning with Michael Collins instead! Thanks, as always to @Bibliogryphon for running things so efficiently and for devising such a clever and engaging format. As he said, all 3 games have now been won by a different method, proving they're all possible outs if you pick wisely and I'm pleased the game still ended in a competitive way with lots of possible winners even if we got there in quicker than usual time! Good luck with the next one Banana, I look forward to seeing your choices and making my picks! Are we looking at a 1st June start date by any chance?

As per the American list, I also did a list of the early cosmonauts who were still alive. While the Russian programs were smaller, it's more complicated as the Soviets started out with 20 candidates, of which 12 went into space on various programs, along with 3 who weren't in original 20. From tests, 20 candidates were put forward to go to 'Star City' and train and, of these, 6 were selected for accelerated training and were known as the 'Vanguard Six', the Soviet equivalent of America's 'Mercury Seven'. During training, 2 of the 6 were replaced. The eight selected were: Yuri Gargarin - First man in space on Vostok 1, b. 1934, d. 1968 Gherman Titov - First manned mission lasting a full day on Vostok 2, b. 1935, d. 2000 Andriyan Nikolayev - Part of first simultaneous manned flights on Vostok 3, Soyuz 9, b. 1929, d. 2004 Pavel Popovich - Part of first simultaneous manned flights on Vostok 4, b. 1930, d. 2009 Anatoly Kartashov - Suffered minor haemorrhaging in a centrifuge test and was replaced, never flew in space, b. 1932, d. 2005 Valentin Varlamov - Injured a cervical vertebra in a swimming accident during training and was replaced, never flew in space, b. 1934, d. 1980 Valery Bykovsky - Replaced Kartashov; longest solo orbital flight on Vostok 5, also flew on Soyuz 22 and 31, b. 1934, d. 2019 Grigori Nelyubov - Replaced Varlamov; dismissed from program in 1963 for drunk and disorderly conduct and committed suicide three years later, b. 1934, d. 1966 Of the remaining 12, 7 more went into space on various programs, as listed below: Vladimir Komarov - Voskhod 1, Soyuz 1, first cosmonaut to go into space more than once, first man to die on a space mission when Soyuz 1 crash landed, b. 1927, d. 1967 Pavel Belyayev - Voskhod 2, b. 1925, d. 1970 Alexey Leonov - Voskhod 2, first spacewalk, Soviet commander of Apollo-Soyuz mission 1975, b. 1934, d. 2019 Yevgeny Khrunov - Soyuz 5/4, b. 1933, d. 2000 Boris Volynov - Soyuz 5, 21, b. 1934 (aged 86) Georgy Shonin - Soyuz 6, b. 1935, d. 1997 Viktor Gorbatko - Soyuz 7, 24 and 37, b. 1934, d. 2017 The remaining 5 selected for initial cosmonaut training were: Ivan Anikeyev - Dismissed from program in 1963 for drunk and disorderly conduct, never flew in space, b. 1933, d. 1992 Valentin Bondarenko - Died due to injuries sustained in a fire during a low pressure isolation experiment, never flew in space, b. 1937, d. 1961 Valentin Filatyev - Dismissed from program in 1963 for drunk and disorderly conduct, never flew in space, b. 1930, d. 1990 Mars Rafikov - Dismissed from program in 1962 for "a variety of offenses, including womanizing and 'gallivanting' in Moscow restaurants, and so forth", never flew in space, b. 1933, d. 2000 Dmitri Zaikin - Backup commander for Voskhod 2, left the space service in 1969 due to stomach ulcers while training for the Soyuz program, never flew in space, b. 1932, d. 2013 In addition to this, 3 cosmonauts went into space who were not part of the original 20. These were: Valentina Tereshkova, Vostok 6, first woman in space, b. 1937 (aged 84) Konstantin Feoktistov - Voskhod 1, first civilian in space, b. 1926, d. 2009 Boris Yegorov - Voskhod 1, first physician in space, b. 1937, d. 1994 Knowing where to stop the cosmonaut list is tricky, since the next program, Soyuz, started in 1967 and has continued ever since. I to list the first stage of Soyuz, up to the Soyuz 11 disaster in 1971, after which there was a 2 year gap. This roughly correlates with Apollo 17, the last pre-Space Shuttle astronaut mission. (Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz 1 mentioned elsewhere) Georgy Beregovoy - Soyuz 2, b. 1921, d. 1995 Vladimir Shatalov - Soyuz 4, 8 and 10, b. 1927 (aged 93) Aleksei Yeliseyev - Soyuz 5/4. 8 and 10, b. 1934 (aged 86) (Boris Volynov, Soyuz 5/4, 21 mentioned elsewhere) Valeri Kubasov - Soyuz 6 and 19 (Apollo-Soyuz mission), b. 1935, d. 2014 (Georgy Shonin, Soyuz 6 mentioned elsewhere) Anatoly Filipchenko - Soyuz 7 and 16, b. 1928 (aged 93) Vladislav Volkov - Soyuz 7 and 11, b. 1935, d. 1971 (Viktor Gorbatko, Soyuz 7, 24 and 37 mentioned elsewhere) Vitaly Sevastyanov - Soyuz 9 and 18, b. 1935, d. 2010 (Andriyan Nikolayev, Soyuz 9 mentioned elsewhere) Nikolay Rukavishnikov - Soyuz 10, 16 and 33, b. 1932, d. 2002 Georgy Dobrovolsky - Soyuz 11, b. 1928, d. 1971 Viktor Patsayev - Soyuz 11, b. 1933, d. 1971 Soyuz 11 was the first craft to successfully dock with the Salyut space station. While re-entry was successful, all three cosmonauts were found dead in the capsule after a malfunction caused the capsule to depressurise. The last year or two has seen the last member of the Vanguard Six pass away, and most of the other early survivors: only one of the original intake of 20 cosmonauts in 1959 is still going (Boris Volynov), plus Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, who was part of the programme but not from the original intake. Only 4 cosmonauts from the first 11 Soyuz missions are still alive, which includes Volynov, and this takes the program up to 1972. In early 2016, when I first did these lists, there were 21 Americans and 8 Soviets alive from missions up to 1972, this has now reduced in the past 5 years to just 13 Americans and only 5 Soviets. Still, who says communism isn't good for your health, eh?

I can never remember how this works...who wins if Nora Nova dies? An Fear Baeg and msc both have her.

I first published this list back in 2016, thought I'd bring it back up to present given Collins's death and the new interest. List of prominent early astronauts (US): 1. Neil Armstrong - Apollo 11, b.1930, d.2012 2. Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin - Apollo 11, b.1930 (aged 91) 3. Pete Conrad - Apollo 12, b.1930, d.1999 4. Alan Bean - Apollo 12, b.1932, d. 2018 5. Alan Shepard - Apollo 14, b.1923, d.1998 6. Edgar Mitchell - Apollo 14, b.1930, d.2016 7. David Scott - Apollo 15, b.1932 (aged 88) 8. James Irwin - Apollo 15, b.1930, d.1991 9. John W. Young - Apollo 16, b.1930, d. 2018 10. Charles Duke - Apollo 16, b.1935 (aged 85) 11. Eugene Cernan - Apollo 17, b.1934, d. 2017 12. Harrison Schmidt - Apollo 17, b.1935 (aged 85) Men who flew to the moon (or intended to), but didn't get out: 1. Frank Borman - Apollo 8, b.1928 (aged 93) - 11 days older than Lovell 2. Jim Lovell - Apollo 8 and 13, b.1928 (aged 93) 3. Bill Anders - Apollo 8, b.1933 (aged 87) 4. Tom Stafford - Apollo 10, b.1930 (aged 90) 5. Michael Collins - Apollo 11, b.1930, d. 2021 6. Dick Gordon - Apollo 12, b.1929, d. 2017 7. Jack Swigert - Apollo 13, b.1931, d.1982 8. Fred Haise - Apollo 13, b.1933 (aged 87) 9. Stu Roosa - Apollo 14, b.1933, d.1994 10. Al Worden - Apollo 15, b.1932, d. 2020 11. Ken Mattingley - Apollo 16, b.1936 (aged 85) 12. Ron Evans - Apollo 17, b.1933, d.1990 (John W. Young and Eugene Cernan also flew on Apollo 10, the test run for the Moon landing, but are included among the moonwalkers) And finally, the pre-Apollo astronauts: The Mercury Seven Virgil 'Gus' Grissom, b.1926, d.1967 John Glenn - First American to orbit the Earth, b.1921, d. 2016 Scott Carpenter - Second orbital Mercury flight, b.1925, d.2013 Walter 'Wally' Schirra, Third orbital Mercury flight, b.1923, d.2007 Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper, Last American to fly in space alone, b.1927, d.2004 Donald 'Deke' Slayton, b.1924, d.1993 (Alan Shepard already listed above) Project Gemini 16 astronauts took part, 3 Mercury veterans, 11 who took part in Apollo missions to the moon. The only others were: James A. McDivitt - also part of Apollo 9, b.1929 (aged 91) Edward H. White - first American to walk in space, b.1930, d.1967 Early Apollo missions Roger B. Chaffee - Apollo 1, b.1935, d.1967 Walt Cunningham - Apollo 7, b.1932 (aged 89) Donn Eisele - Apollo 7, b.1930, d.1987 David Scott - Apollo 9, b.1932 (aged 88) Rusty Schweikart - Apollo 9, b.1935 (aged 85) (Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and 'Wally' Schirra also involved but included elsewhere) Down to just 4 moonwalkers now, 6 who flew to the Moon but never got off, James A. McDivitt is the only remaining Project Gemini recruit who didn't go to the Moon but flew on the Apollo 9 test flight, as are his two crewmates recruited specifically for Apollo, as well as Walt Cunningham from the first successful manned Apollo flight, Apollo 7 (Apollo 1 went up in flames on the launch pad during training, killing Grissom, White and Chaffee instantly).

As Ulitzer says, there are plenty from the Apollo missions still alive (Collins himself never walked on the Moon), but to answer your question, the intention from NASA is to put the next man and first woman on the Moon by 2024. This is under the next space program, Artemis. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55253932 And Rest in Peace Colonel Collins, a gent by all accounts.

Was sure this finished the game - apparently not! On we go...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56903877 Her Majesty resumes official duties, accepting credentials (remotely) from the new ambassadors from Latvia and the Ivory Coast. Looks happy, like the pro she is, but also looks no different physically, which is harder to hide, even remotely.

There is a recently created Extra-curricular thread for Snooker discussions which I think might be better suited to your rantings and ravings. This thread is for the death of snooker players, not a discussion of the death of snooker itself. Anyone died since Doug Mountjoy to your knowledge?

Oof! Quick @Toast ! There's still time to creep up behind Coltrane in a clown mask and go "BOO!"

Is he not remotely notable in the Brighton area? Surely the local press at least would have mention that Hollywood actor and Brighton resident Andre Maranne has died at the age of whatever he is? We'll wait and see I guess. But the Scavenger Hunt could have a messy end if someone else dies before we get confirmation!

Death date for Maranne on Wiki appears to have gone. In which case, it's still game on for now...

Death date appears to have been removed on Wiki. The silence elsewhere suggests an error?

The latest big managerial dismissal seems a good time for an update, although it's been a relatively quiet month. Changes in green as usual. Hits mentioned here (13): Eddie Howe (Bournemouth - mutual consent), Russ Wilcox (Southend - new manager confirmed), Hayden Mullins (Watford - new manager confirmed), Mark Molesley (Weymouth - moved to new club), Sabri Lamouchi (Nottingham Forest - sacked), Garry Monk (Sheffield Wednesday - sacked), Philip Cocu (Derby - sacked), Slaven Bilic (West Ham - sacked), Frank Lampard (Chelsea - sacked), Bradley Quinton (Welling - sacked), Darrell Clarke (Walsall - moved to new club), Chris Wilder (Sheffield United - sacked), Alex Neil (Preston - sacked) Also hits (10): Gerhard Struber (Barnsley - moved to new club), Mark Bowen (Reading - resigned), Mark Kennedy (Macclesfield - resigned), Richie Wellens (Swindon - moved to new club), Stuart McCall (Bradford - sacked), Joey Barton (Fleetwood - sacked), John Askey (Port Vale - sacked), Neil Harris (Cardiff - sacked), Paul Lambert (Ipswich - sacked), Lee Bowyer (Charlton - resigned) Misses (20): Paul Cook (Wigan - resigned), Graham Coughlan (Mansfield - sacked), Michael Jackson (Tranmere - new manager confirmed), John Sheridan (Wigan - moved to new club [technically ineligible for this game though]), Ben Garner (Bristol Rovers - sacked), Sam Ricketts (Shrewsbury - sacked), Phil Parkinson (Sunderland - sacked), David Dunn (Barrow - sacked), Vladimir Ivic (Watford - sacked [ineligible]), Ian Holloway (Grimsby - resigned), Tony Pulis (Sheffield Wednesday - sacked [ineligible]), Jake Buxton (Burton Albion - sacked), Glyn Hodges (AFC Wimbledon - sacked), Jason Tindall (Bournemouth - sacked [ineligible]), Keith Curle (Northampton - sacked), Paul Tisdale (Bristol Rovers - sacked [ineligible]), Dean Holden (Bristol City - sacked), Michael Jolley (Barrow - sacked [ineligible]), Steve Ball (Colchester - sacked), Ross Embleton (Leyton Orient - sacked), Darren Moore (Doncaster - moved to new club), Harry Kewell (Oldham - sacked), Kenny Jackett (Portsmouth - sacked), Aitor Karanka (Birmingham - sacked), Richie Wellens (Salford - mutual consent [ineligible]), Mark Molesley (Southend - sacked [ineligible]), Mark Cooper (Forest Green - sacked), John Sheridan (Swindon - sacked [ineligible]), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham - sacked) Current leaderboard: @RoverAndOut - 12 (Howe, Monk, Mullins, Cocu, Lamouchi, Wilcox, Kennedy, McCall, Bilic, Barton, Lambert, Bowyer) @Great Uncle Bulgaria - 9 (Howe, Mullins, Cocu, Molesley, Askey, Quinton, Clarke, Lambert, Bowyer) @BuffaloPhil - 9 (Cocu, Struber, Lamouchi, Bowen, Wellens, Bilic, Barton, Bowyer, Neil) @msc - 6 (Howe, Struber, Lamouchi, Lampard, Lambert, Bowyer) @Miracle Aligner - 5 (Howe, Monk, Harris, Lampard, Wilder) Incredibly, just one scoring sacking this month, for BuffaloPhil and Alex Neil. Perhaps more damningly, 3 of the 6 sackings this month were ineligible as they've already sacked the manager in play at the start of the game this season, while 3 of those sacked were already picks for previous jobs they've left this season. Talk about a merry-go-round!

Yep, sounded too good to be true. Isn't Nagelsmann supposed to be Bayern's man to replace Hansi Flick? Chris Powell and Ryan Mason taking over 'til June apparently, with a new coach appointed for next season.

Very peculiar that none of us did. Guess we all banked on the bounce before the collapse as usually happens. Plus the fact it would cost them 30m quid to sack him as reason enough to keep him. But then we weren't expecting the disintegration of football as we know it and the need for a convenient distraction. I've seen rumours he refused to support the Super League proposals so was sacked, which would make sense given the unusual timing. If so, he's gone up ever so slightly in my estimations as a man, no higher as a manager though.

The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, wife to the 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, grandson of Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Prince Philip's uncle, murdered by the IRA in 1979. I know. But that wasn't the point I was making. She wasn't there specifically for that link, she was there because she was one of the Duke's closest friends and his carriage driving companion - in other words, someone he enjoyed spending time with in a social capacity. She is not a blood relation.

Clearly he missed Harry's £30m wedding with 600 guests 3 years ago... He also missed the fact Philip's carriage driving companion was present. They even managed to shoehorn someone with shared interests and hobbies into the 30 allowed to attend!

Not sure why you're so confused by Toast's response. You argue she's a woman of her own means, Toast argues she's a gold digger. You say her money is going to come from selling her story about being married to a member of the Royal Family and cornering the 'royal baby wear market' in the USA, which would mean her being in the marriage to make money out of it: the very definition of her being a gold digger. I'm not picking sides in the discussion, the whole debacle has become incredibly toxic. But to add a fairly brief comment on her 'own means', I wouldn't deny she had a career before Harry, but, personally, I'd never heard of her or 'Suits' before she got together with him, so it would be foolish to suggest her profile hasn't be increased tenfold by being involved with him, whether it works out or not. And it is at best incredibly naive if she's telling the truth that she didn't research the royal family at all before agreeing to marry Harry, the family is littered with failed marriages and her own friends warned her of the issues with dating him. It's somewhat disingenuous to walk into something with your eyes closed shut and then complain it isn't what you thought it was going to be. But on the other hand, I have absolutely no idea why this thread's been activated today, she should be left to her own devices on the other side of the planet, today was supposed to be about laying the Duke of Edinburgh to rest. It seems as much of it has been about whether William and Harry have made up, but even then, that's nothing to do with Meghan, it's between the brothers and the wider family.

I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case. She's the Head of State and her immediate family do care about her a great deal. If she wanted a companion, it could have been accommodated within the 30. I suspect she wanted a last moment of quiet intimacy with her husband and her thoughts. I saw that there was only one journalist allowed in the Chapel, from the BBC, and she was in a hermetically sealed box in the rafters of the Chapel observing. She said that at one point, not picked up by the cameras, the Duke of York (who was seated closest to her) looked over to check she was alright and they shared a brief moment.

Very much so, and is also held responsible for the spread of haemophilia through European royal families. To give you an idea, Queen Victoria's close relations included: Edward VII - father of King George V of the UK, married to Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX, brother of King George I of Greece and aunt to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (his mother was Alexandra's sister). His daughter Maud of Wales married the King of Norway, her grandson is Harald V, as Biblio mentioned. Victoria - married Kaiser Frederick III of Prussia, mother of Kaiser Bill Alice - mother of Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, the last Tsarina Alfred - father of Queen Marie of Romania Arthur - father of Margaret, first wife of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, 5 children then died - her grandchildren include King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (the current King), Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, the exiled monarch', King Constantine's wife. Beatrice - mother of Victoria, Queen of Spain, grandmother of King Juan Carlos I

One thing that is always peculiar about these royal gatherings is just how inter-related they all are. The Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra are going to the funeral as first cousins of the Queen, but are also first cousins once removed of Prince Philip himself, as their mother, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark was Philip's first cousin. No wonder everyone thinks they're lizards.

Huge surprise. An actress who's really been at the top of her game over the past decade, as you say, been in everything. Peaky Blinders obviously what she's probably most famous for these days, but she was great as a veiled Theresa May-esque figure in Roadkill last year on BBC1. Great shame she's been cut down in her prime.

Ah, indeed. But they're cousins, not grandchildren. Perks of being in the semi-immediate family that Mr Mapelli Mozzi gets to be at THE funeral of the year. Re: Fergie, maybe, but they might also wait out of respect for his father's disapproval until his mother's also gone. But it will be interesting to see if you're right. Autumn engagement and Christmas wedding, anyone?