[Ads-l] steely-eyed missile man

[Bill Mullins]

I thought I had submitted this years ago, but don't find it in the archives.

steely-eyed missile man - not in OED

1973 Orlando Sentinel 13 May 4/4

We Brevardians have seen thousands upon thousands of pictures of countdowns in progress, of green lights flashing, green buttons being pushed, fuming LOX boiling off, steely-eyed missile men battening hatches and astronauts climbing aboard.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/222646802/?match=1&terms=%22steely%20eyed%20missile%22


1994 J. Lovell, J. Kluger Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 157

Among the men in the Canaveral blockhouse and the Houston control room, there was no greater tribute a controller could be paid than to describe him, in the rough poetry of the rocketry community, as a "steely-eyed missile man."

https://archive.org/details/lostmoonperilous00love/page/157/mode/1up?q=%22steely+eyed+missile%22


1994 Santa Fe New Mexican 23 Oct D8/6

Men like John Aaron, a "steely eyed missile-man" right out of central casting with a laconic demeanor and Oklahoma drawl, who convinced recalcitrant controllers the lunar module could do without most systems in order to conserve power and oxygen; . . . .

https://www.newspapers.com/image/583636401/?match=1&terms=%22steely%20eyed%20missile%22



2009 Popular Mechanics Jun 129/2

We were steely-eyed missilemen.

https://archive.org/details/PopularMechanics2009-06/page/n130/mode/1up?q=%22steely+eyed+missile%22



2014 A. Weir The Martian 213

“Message reads: ‘Houston, be advised: Rich Purnell is a steely- eyed missile man.’”

https://archive.org/details/martiannovel0000weir_z3l8/page/213/mode/1up?q=%22steely+eyed+missile%22



steely-eyed OED has 1964

1878 Albany Democrat 8 Feb 1/5

In a few moments, the sweep of a silken robe was heard, and the door opened to admit a fair and steely-eyed woman.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/336152817/?match=1&terms=%22steely%20eyed%20%22

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