John Glenn, 1921-2016
[guest post by JVW]
John Glenn, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts who ushered in the era of American space exploration, died earlier today at the age of 95. Glenn’s remarkable life included military service as a fighter pilot during both World War II and the Korean War, his exploits as the first American to orbit the Earth from space, and four terms as a United States Senator serving his home state of Ohio. Glenn’s final impressive act on the world stage was to fly aboard the space shuttle Discovery at the age of 77, shortly before retiring from the Senate.
While I probably didn’t agree with him very often politically, here’s saluting a notable life of significant accomplishment and a final farewell to an authentic American hero.
We are saddened by the loss of Sen. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. A true American hero. Godspeed, John Glenn. Ad astra. pic.twitter.com/89idi9r1NB
— NASA (@NASA) December 8, 2016
– JVW
Reminding everyone of the usual admonition of circumspection in your comments in the immediate aftermath of a public figure’s demise.
JVW (88c58d) — 12/8/2016 @ 2:20 pmHaving said that, his public record is part of his legacy and I think it is lamentable that he apparently colluded with the Clinton Administration to stonewall the Senate special investigation into Bubba’s shady campaign fundraising in 1996. I wonder if he ever had cause to regret that.
JVW (88c58d) — 12/8/2016 @ 2:22 pmAmerica used to be really good at space stuff
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/8/2016 @ 2:34 pmHe and the other astronaut pioneers were heroes and icons of my early childhood and I consider them among the most heroic of American heroes to this day. They were not all perfect men. Several of them left us too soon in tragic circumstances. I am so glad Glenn lived long and was able to go back up into space in the space shuttle. The courage and faith in NASA that those original astronauts showed by putting on a helmet and suit and getting into an early rocket that was shot out of flames in to the great unknown will never cease to amaze me.
HIGH FLIGHT by John Magee
elissa (cc73a9) — 12/8/2016 @ 2:51 pm“I don’t know any words for this except the trite ones: tension is mounting here at Cape Canaveral.”
That was CBS News correspondent Walter Cronkite’s cryptic description of the scene at launch complex 19 in Florida the morning of February 20, 1962 as the United States attempted to place its first astronaut into orbit around the Earth– then 40 year old John Hershel Glenn, Jr.
Today it is difficult to convey to those not alive at the time, the intense focus America and what was then the ‘Free World,’ had all those yesterdays ago as a very, very brave man climbed into an astonishingly tiny spacecraft — Friendship 7– atop his Mercury/Atlas 6 launch vehicle.
The launch attempt was plagued by weather and technical delays many times through late January and into February. The ‘capsule’ itself was about the size of a porta-potty, and carried no computer. Mission Control was the computer. The Mercury-Atlas system had failed two of the previous five tries as well. So this would be either the third failure or the fourth success of a very, very ‘iffy’ missile system. His courage was real… the definitive thread of the Right Stuff.
The nation literally slowed to a pause as the countdown approached zero. Radios and televisions were on in cars, offices and schools– even Grand Central Station stopped and watched a large TV screen CBS News had set up.
My own second grade class was herded into the gymnasium at the Clara Barton School in Fords, New Jersey. Kids were excited. Teachers, nervous. There, in front of the bleachers where we were seated stood a six foot metal cart. Perched on top, a large gunmetal-silver Admiral television set. The kind with the front a full screen and the controls on the side with the rabbit ear-antenna on the back. The black and white picture was crisp, clear and tuned into New York’s Channel 2, CBS as Walter Cronkite punctuated the monotone countdown from Mercury Control’s from Shorty Powers.
Then the Atlas ignition, ‘Godspeed, John Glenn’ from Mercury Capcom Scott Carpenter, the call ‘red beard’ — for the flame– then, ‘liftoff…the MA-6 vehicle is climbing’ from a laconic Powers… and the now famous “Oh, go baby, GO!” from Cronkite as the rocket disappeared into the sky down the Atlantic missile range.
Normally controlled teachers clapped and jumped up and down. Kids cheered. And it became a day etched in my memory forever.
There was no ‘live’ audio from the capsule as it climbed toward orbit; Powers conveyed Glenn’s comments and only later were the tapes released to the public to overlay with the video. And every 90 minutes as the school day progressed, the principal came on the PA system with progress reports. Orbit one… two and so forth. By 3:30 that afternoon, we were on our school buses heading home– one kid had a transistor radio and we listened as the heat shield problem was overcome and his splashdown confirmed. Then raced home to the TV to see wirephoto images of the Glenn and his capsule was plucked from the Atlantic by the USS Noa. The worldwide acclaim was to come. But the sense of awe realizing this man had gone around the world three times while I had been to and from school just a few miles away has never left me.
Of course, most younger readers may only know of Glenn from the less than accurate film, ‘The Right Stuff‘ or of his time as a senator from Ohio and his second flight as a 77 year old aboard the space shuttle in 1998. But the facts and figures around Glenn’s remarkable life and accomplishments can easily be found on the web— just as it’s easy to click on the NASA website and see a live image from the ISS camera from orbit of Earth just like Glenn saw.
But Glenn’s message about our space program had remained remarkable consistent in interviews over the decades. It was, as he said over and over, ‘basic, fundamental research.’ And pretty much all the gadgets we take for granted today can be sourced to the R&D from the space effort of that era. He was right about that stuff, too, of course.
Framed above my desk is the front page of the New York Times covering that 1962 day with Glenn’s signature. And over the years, watching every manned space mission, I have always thought of them following the same path Glenn blazed so long ago.
So the last of the Original Seven is gone: John Glenn is dead at 95. And I wept.
Condolences to the Glenn family and especially his devoted wife, Annie– a courageous figure herself.
Ad Astra. And of course, Godspeed, John Glenn.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/8/2016 @ 2:52 pmGreat comment, DCSCA. I was fortunate enough to meet Buzz Aldrin a few years back, which was certainly a memorable moment for me.
JVW (88c58d) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:00 pmWho are going to be the heroes of today’s young boys and girls? Will it only be professional athletes and entertainers? That’s sad to contemplate.
JVW (88c58d) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:02 pmI never have much good to say about the NYT but they wrote him a hell of an obituary.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/us/john-glenn-dies.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
elissa (cc73a9) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:06 pmNASA still does great things. It’s just the worm tongues at GISS carjack their credibility and press.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:10 pmJust watched The Right Stuff for the 20th time a few weeks back and watching Ed Harris’ excellent portrayal, my thoughts went to Mr. Glenn and how marvelous it was that this hero was still with us. Godspeed, sir!
Colonel Haiku (64320c) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:10 pmYes it was a good film, the book by tom Wolfe was great,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:16 pmThe book was incredibly good, narciso. It gave me a real appreciation of the true courage, vision and – most especially – the mathematics involved. My favorite Wolfe novel.
Colonel Haiku (64320c) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:21 pmThis seems appropriate.
‘Rocketman’ – bluegrass version [YouTube]
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:45 pm“We have a long way to go in the space race. We started late. But this is the New Ocean, and I believe the United States must sail on it and be in a position second to none. Some months ago I said that I hoped every American would serve his country. Today, Colonel Glenn served his and we all express our thanks to him.”
President John F. Kennedy, February 20, 1962
Ad Astra, John Glenn.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:54 pmI had no recollection of Glenn’s run for the Democrat nomination for President in 1984, so I was just looking through the Wikipedia page at it. Did anyone remember that George McGovern made another run that year? That was news to me. Anyway, it looks like his campaign never gained much traction, peaking with a 21% showing in Alabama (essentially tying Gary Hart for second place there), but I remember that Mondale locked up all the party poo-bahs early and Hart won the insurgency vote. He never tried for the top job again.
JVW (88c58d) — 12/8/2016 @ 3:54 pmA postscript. That February morning in 1962, when America attempted to launch Glenn into orbit, the Soviet Union had already done it.
Twice.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:01 pmYes korolev was a very effective designer, even thought we have the bull of the best scientists, that chabon book moonglow obliquely touches on that
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:04 pmHHha Carlson has the moronic Suprun on.
Colonel Haiku (64320c) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:04 pmThere is a hunger for adventure in space, that was captured somewhat in the Martian, despite Matt Damon being in it.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:12 pmBarack says we don’t really need to invest in space shuttles anymore. He’s angry that space exploration had become an expression of American Exceptionalism. He wants to remind America that we’re no more exceptional than Latvia or Belize!
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:16 pmThere was an Alt history, ministry of space, by warren Ellis, where the UK entered the space race first.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:30 pmMatt Damon… https://youtu.be/gnPWJOJYVKc
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:32 pmThis man got in a tiny box and let them send him into outer space, on top of a rocket mostly know from blowing up. He did it for country and the honor of the Corps. I had just turned 8 when Frendship 7 flew, and I was as impressed then as I am now.
Godspeed.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:38 pm*mostly known for blowing up.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:39 pmYesterday there were three people on my list of people I would like to meet someday. Today there are two.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:40 pmBarack says we don’t really need to invest in space shuttles anymore.
And good. NASA and its shuttle had become the single biggest impediment to free enterprise in space. It made investment in rocket technology impossible as it hogged all the fights at subsidized fees. Orbital Sciences withered for years trying to fight against the shuttle.
Of course, Obama thought that removing the state from the market would kill it.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:44 pmNASA still does great things.
Mostly JPL. There’s a lot of NASA though that is time-servers, bureaucrats and 3rd-raters. Especially now. Anyone who can works at SpaceX or one of the other startups.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:48 pmYes, that was a remarkable feit, that’s why the incidents with spaces and virgin Atlantic don’t surprise me too much.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 4:48 pmSpacex and galactic, although I think the coast of payload would prevents a do harriman situation in the future.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 5:06 pmIf you haven’t already, read “The Right Stuff,” Tom Wolfe’s great novel on the genesis of the American space program. Men like Glenn and test pilot Chuck Yeager were the epitome of courage and heroism – words that in today’s society are reserved for the likes of Leo DeCaprio and Michael Sam.
Deuce Frehley (8afd8b) — 12/8/2016 @ 5:15 pmYeah, that was a good book.
Patterico (115b1f) — 12/8/2016 @ 5:46 pmThen there’s James Michener’s novel “Space” which I took a look at the other day. That has mostly fictional characters.
We used to have a globe that I guess my pparents bought that had John Glenn’s 3 rbits on it. It disappeared in the early 1980s.
Harrison Schmidt, the lasst man on the moon, and the only one who was previously not a pilot, called up the MArk Levin show. They overlapped very little as astronuats – John Glenn was quitting when he was completing his pilot training, but they got to know each otehr quite well in the U.S. Senate. They were on opposite parties but had things they worked on together.
He said it was (hard to realize? an overlooked point?) that it was only ten years from John Glenn’s being in orbit till he landed on the moon in Apollo 17.
I think he said the thing he missed about he senate was being able to find out anything. (Thhat was before Google)
Sammy Finkelman (4151a0) — 12/8/2016 @ 6:17 pmYes I remember that work, Wolfe really captured the atmosphere
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 6:24 pmFun fact from Wikipedia – as a Marine pilot in Vietnam, Ted Williams was his wingman.
Tom Hynes (1d38ca) — 12/8/2016 @ 7:55 pmThat might have been true in Korea, I think yeagher flew in Vietnam.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 8:06 pmYes it was Korea. Here is a photo of them.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/573261c31d07c0d298e8824d/t/5732abbd22482eea8ec7fddb/1462938754608/?format=1000w
elissa (eb0a05) — 12/8/2016 @ 8:28 pmThe photo link I posted above is: MAJOR JOHN GLENN (L) AND CAPTAIN TED WILLIAMS DISCUSSING AERIAL MANEUVERS WHILE DRINKING THEIR MORNING COFFEE AT K-3 AIR FORCE BASE IN SOUTH KOREA, 1953.
elissa (eb0a05) — 12/8/2016 @ 8:30 pmAnd here they are together again in 1998. I am just fascinated with the coincidence that these two American icons served together. Of course at the time it was Ted Williams who was the famous one.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ted_Williams_and_John_Glenn_1998.jpg
elissa (eb0a05) — 12/8/2016 @ 8:37 pmJust like Albert fall being a rough rider or murtha’s service isn’t negated by his subsequent action, well maybe randy cunningham
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 8:44 pmAllen drury, who was quite prophetic in other circles, did a space themes thriller, throne of Saturn about a mission to mars, set in the 70s, the last if Von braun’s crew ran the operation.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/8/2016 @ 8:51 pmgood fishing Ellisa
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/9/2016 @ 12:36 amSix DFCs, 149 combat missions, and Friendship 7 which was a hell of a dice roll.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/9/2016 @ 1:37 amThere was an Alt history
I enjoyed Stephen Baxter’s Voyage, an alt history where NASA tried for Mars in the 80’s. It’s mostly about how you go from Apollo to Mars, with a lot of inside-NASA and politics.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/9/2016 @ 1:40 amJust got done watching “The Right Stuff” again. I read the book when it came out and thought it was excellent. IIRC, it was quite different than the movie.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/9/2016 @ 1:43 amHe was the last of the original seven Mercury astronauts.
Gus died on the pad in Apollo 1. Then Deke. Shepard. Gordo. Schirra. and Scott Carpenter.
All gone.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/9/2016 @ 2:53 amhttp://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/6423/john-glenns-combat-nickname-was-old-magnet-ass-for-all-the-right-reasons
Old Magnet Ass. Learn it. Live it. Love it.
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. If they can use the plane again, great!
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 12/11/2016 @ 7:38 amHe was a combat pilot and test pilot. This impresses me more than the fact he was an astronaut. YMMV.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 12/11/2016 @ 7:42 am