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| John Glenn in orbit within Friendship 7 |
If anyone cares to take theological issue with that decision, let them go forth and do so, but I consider it a learning opportunity for myself, my readership, and a terrific inspiration.
John Glenn is the last surviving member of the original seven Mercury astronauts, was the fifth human being to go into space, the third American to do so, and the first American to achieve orbit on February 20, 1962.
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin beat him by almost a year in his shot of April, 1961, which made him the first human being ever to place his body in space and in orbit.
Glenn, who became a Democratic Senator from Ohio, actually returned to space on the Space Shuttle on October 29, 1998, becoming, at the age of 77, the oldest person ever to remove himself from the Earth's atmosphere.
I do not know that I am going to touch upon every single manned-mission in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs going forward on Friday nights, but there are certain achievements that absolutely have to be acknowledged and very high on that list is Glenn's five hour three-orbit flight.
John Glenn lives to this day knowing that he was the first American, and the second human being, to ever orbit the globe.
I can think of few more honorable achievements in this world.
* I originally made the mistake of assuming that Glenn was a Republican in office. He was not.
Glenn was a democrat. He was quite close to the Kennedys. It was Robert who originally encouraged him to run and he was with Robert when he was assassinated.
ReplyDeleteReally?
DeleteI guess I made an assumption.
You are absolutely correct.
I made a mistake.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteKeep'em coming. I love it! But Joseph is right, John Glenn was a Democrat.
I remember this as if it was yesterday.
ReplyDeleteOff topic:
ReplyDelete"Why I am becoming a Jew and you should, too."
By Nick Cohen. In the Observer.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/19/why-i-am-becoming-a-jew-and-you-should-too?CMP=share_btn_tw
Please read.
When the Boeing X-20 Dyna Soar was cancelled in 1963 they had already spent 410 million dollars and were on track to spend another 378 million dollars leading to a scheduled first flight in 1966. It would have been the first space plane by 15 years. Program engineers did not see any technological issues which were beyond current science and engineering at the time (including ceramic tiles).
ReplyDelete