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John Glenn has died

dispatch.com

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Re: John Glenn has died

#21

Post by jason_slack »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #15
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: htt…

Thanks for sharing these.

Re: John Glenn has died

#22

Post by nawitus »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #18
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.

No, the first cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin.

Re: John Glenn has died

#23

Post by vkou »

astrodust wrote: post #20
vkou wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That doesn't entirely count as a space disaster as it was in training.

More importantly, everyone of them expected 'You're going to burn-up and die in launch/re-entry/all your air vents in space/your engines will misfire, and you won't return home' as big, serious risks of their work.

Nobody expected 'You're going to burn-up and die as a result of getting into a closed room, and pushing a few buttons', to be in their top-ten expected causes of death. Planning around unknown unknowns, and all that.

Re: John Glenn has died

#25

Post by vkou »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #18
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.

You're thinking of the first Soyuz flight, Soyuz-1.

Prior to Soyuz, six cosmonauts flew on the Vostok, all of them returning to Earth safely.

Re: John Glenn has died

#26

Post by CapitalistCartr »

nawitus wrote: post #22
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No, the first cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin.

OK, I looked it up. Aren't red lights wonderful. It was Vladimir Komarov in '67.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Komarov

Re: John Glenn has died

#28

Post by viewer5 »

rmason wrote: post #14

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 h…

Would you mind talking about your passion for radio? It's not something I've really thought about (beyond a general, taking-it-for-granted "hey this is handy, I'm glad we have this in our repertoire of technology"), so I'd love to hear about your love.

Re: John Glenn has died

#29

Post by bernardom »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #15
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: htt…

The other classic (and definitely an HN-appropriate book) is "Failure Is Not an Option," which gives an awesome look at the engineering and management challenges they faced from Mercury to Apollo.

https://smile.amazon.com/Failure-Not-Option-Mission-Control/...

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