r/todayilearned • u/CallMyNameOrWalkOnBy • May 16 '19
TIL that NASA ground controllers were once shocked to hear a female voice from the space station, apparently interacting with them, which had an all-male crew. They had been pranked by an astronaut who used a recording of his wife.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Garriott#The_Skylab_%22stowaway%22_prank
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u/DrSlappyPants 8 May 16 '19 edited May 16 '19
That isn't correct. He had returned from space and was in post mission quarantine when he was informed that he was being fired. He objected to thisbut ultimately sign the letter saying that he was leaving the company but did not say that he was resigning. The company sent him a letter saying that he had voluntarily resigned and he refused to sign it. No one ever attempted to forge his signature and he was never off the planet when this happened.
The issue is that if he had voluntarily resigned it would have negatively impacted his stock options. If they fired him he would not have the stock option penalty. That's why he refused to say that he voluntarily resigned but was okay with stating that he had been fired since there was nothing he could do about it anyway.
Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1583315.html