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John Glenn has died

dispatch.com

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Re: John Glenn has died

#11

Post by alaskamiller »

An often passed around marine legend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF5OBBhdTJ4

--

John Glenn, John Glenn, first American to orbit space. Was a senator from the state of Ohio, oldest man to go back up to space because he was a PT god. Before all of that he was a fucking Marine. An airwinger though. A pilot.

John Glenn, 1974 ran for senate against a politician named Howard Metzenbaum. Howard Metzenbaum was a sorry motherfucker. John Glenn at this point was a Marine, first American to orbit the earth and space. Howard Metzenbaum asks him how can you run for senate when you never held a job?

What the fuck would you do if someone said that shit to you?

Now I'm gonna change a little bit of this, it's my world.

John Glenn said, is that right? I served 27 years in the United States Marine Corps. I fought through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on twelve different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my job, it was my life that was on the line. And this wasn't a nine to five job where I can take time off to take daily cashier's check to the bank.

I ask you to come with me the other day as I went to a veterans hospital, and you stand there, you look at those men with their mangled bodies, you look at them in the eye and you tell them they never held a job.

You come with me and visit any gold star mother, you look her in the eye and you tell her her son never held a job. You come with me to the space program and visit the widows and orphans and you look at those kids and tell them that their dads never held a job.

You come with me on this memorial day weekend coming up to Arlington National Cemetery where I got more friends than I'd like to remember and you stand there, you watch those waving flags, you think about this nation, and you tell me those people never held a job.

Fuck.

I'll tell you Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking god that there are some men who have never held a job. And they required a dedication of purpose, a love of country and dedication to duty that was more important than life itself.

Their self sacrifice is what made this country fucking possible.

Isn't that bad ass?

Re: John Glenn has died

#12

Post by Bedon292 »

jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

Thats a good question. I would be curious what they really felt the odds were at that point in time. There definitely had to be uncertainty, but he was willing to take those risks, and I think that makes him all the braver.

Re: John Glenn has died

#13

Post by acheron »

jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

I think they were "reasonably" certain everything would work, sure. They weren't going to throw people and equipment up there on a guess. But that doesn't mean it wasn't still risky.

Re: John Glenn has died

#14

Post by rmason »

John Glenn was one of my boyhood heroes. I remember as a young boy listening to reports of him taking off and making those three orbits of the earth.

My uncle gave me a crystal radio shaped like Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule that ignited a fierce passion into radio that led to a ham radio license and a lifelong interest in science.

It was a time in America when the future seemed endless, anything was possible. A lot has changed since then but that sense of optimism has never completely left me and may be the reason despite one crash and burn that I am still an entrepreneur. Still hopeful for a better future.

Re: John Glenn has died

#15

Post by Amorymeltzer »

jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

You've got to read The Right Stuff[1], it's fantastic. Tom Wolfe paints the ethos of the era perfectly, and if you have any interest in this period, early NASA, or the guys themselves it's a must-read.

I'd also recommend Chuck Yeager's autobiography[2] as another fantastic read that gives you a feel for what life was like for elite test pilots.

1: https://smile.amazon.com/Right-Stuff-Tom-Wolfe/dp/0312427565...

2: https://smile.amazon.com/Yeager-Autobiography-Chuck/dp/05532...

Re: John Glenn has died

#16

Post by vkou »

Bedon292 wrote: post #12
jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

Thats a good question. I would be curious what they really felt the odds were at that point in time. There definitely had to be uncertainty, but he was willing to take those risks, and I think that makes him all the braver.

The actual death rate among astronauts flying on the Space Shuttle was ~4%.

Any fair assessment would have put the odds of death on a pre-shuttle flight to be at least that.

Re: John Glenn has died

#17

Post by astrodust »

ProAm wrote: post #8
jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

They were all test pilots, they knew what the chances were.

I'm sure it was presumed to be "not good" as a baseline, and coming back in one piece was a bonus.

Re: John Glenn has died

#18

Post by CapitalistCartr »

jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

You are not off base. The first Russian cosmonaut in space died on reentry. Apollo one burnt on the pad. Apollo 13, well, it got a movie.

And that's just of the top of my head, sitting in traffic.

Re: John Glenn has died

#20

Post by astrodust »

vkou wrote: post #9
jason_slack wrote: post #7

RIP. I have to wonder, these first missions, did the astronauts have any assurance they would make it back to earth? What was it like to say goodbye to family, not knowing if you would return or not. Am I way off here? Was this mission uncertain or did NASA have reasonable assurances?

They all knew the risks - they were very thoroughly trained in both the science, and the engineering that went into their spacecraft - as well as their many deadly failure modes. If that didn't drive the point home, the occasional Soviet space disaster certainly would have.

The occasional American disaster made it crystal clear.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

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