Astronaut John H Glenn Jr Friendship 7

8/8/2019 Astronaut John H Glenn Jr Friendship 7

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NATIONAL A E R O N A U T I C S AND S P A C E A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

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A S T R O N A U T JOHN H. GLENN,JR.

FRIENDSHIP 7

FEB R U AR Y 20,1962



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John Herschel Glenn, Jr., w as born at Cambridge,Ohio, July 1 8, 1921 . Now, 40 years later, he hasbecome th e f i rs t American to orbit th e earth.

Dur ing th e i n te r im , he has l ived an exci t ing lifean d dedicated almost 20 years to the service of hisc oun t ry .

He attended prim ary an d secondary schools at NewConcord, Ohio, and, in addition, attended MuskingumCollege there.

The 5-foot 10-1/2 inch tall astronaut has red hairan d green eyes an d we ighs 1 68 pounds .

Glenn entered th e Naval A viation Cadet Programin M arch 1942, and was graduated and commissionedin th e M arine Corps a year later. Following advancedtraining, he joined M arine Fighter Squadron 155 andspent a year f lying F4U f igh te r s in the Marshal lIs lands . During h is Worl d War I I service he f lew

59 combat missions.Following th e w a r , he was a m e m b e r of FighterSquadron 218 on N or th C hina patrol and had duty inG ua m. From June 1948 until December 1950, he wasan i n s t ruc to r in advanced f l ight t raining at C orpusChris t i , Texas. He then attended Am phibious W ar-fare Training School at Quantico, Virginia .

In Korea he flew 63 missions with Marine FighterSquadron 311, and 27 while an exchange pilot withth e A ir Force in F-86 Sabrejets . In the last 9 daysof fighting in Korea, he downed three MIGs in combatalong the Yalu River .

After the end of the Korean action, Glenn attendedTest Pilot School at P a t u x e n t R i v e r , M a r y l a n d .After his graduation he was projec t off icer on a

numbe r of aircraft. He was assigned to the FighterDesign Branch of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics inWashington f rom November 1956 unti l Apri l 1959,

dur i ng which t ime h e also at tended the Unive rs i tyof Maryl and . In April 1959 he was selected as oneof th e seven Projec t M ercu ry astronauts.

John Glenn has been awarded the Dist inguishedFlying Cross on f ive occasions and holds the AirMeda l with 1 8 clusters for his service during W orldWar II and the Korean ac t ion.

In July 1957, th e M ar ine l i e u te nan t c o lone l ,while projec t off icer on the F8U , se t a t ranscon ti -nental speed record f rom Los Angeles to New Y o r k ,spanning th e country in 3 hours and 23 minute s .This was the f i rs t t ranscontinental f l igh t to aver-ag e supersonic speed. He has more than 5,100h o u r s of f ly ing t im e , inc ludin g 1 ,600 hours in jetaircraft.

Glenn ' s se lec t ion as one of the Me rcu ry Astro-nau ts was , in i t s e l f , an honor . Records of more

than 500 Air Force, Navy, Marine , an d Army pilotswho h ad gradua te d f r o m test pilot school werescreened by National Aeronautics an d Space Adm in-istration officials and only 11 0 met al l seven basicre qu i re me nts which had been set up.

A further screening an d processing program wasins t i tu ted and, eventual ly , the seven w ho de mon-strated th e most outstanding professional backgroundan d knowledge in relationship to the anticipated jo brequirements were chosen.

Since that time, John Glenn, Jr . , has twice beennamed to the role as back-up fo r teammates Alan B .Shepard, Jr., and Virgi l I . "Gus" Grissom, w ho werepi lots on Am erica ' s two suborbi tal mann ed spacef lights . O n November 29 , 1961, M anned Spacecraft

Cen ter D irector Robert R. Gilruth named him as thepilot of the f i r s t orbital miss ion - a miss ion whichwas to be eventually flown on February 20, 1962.



Two of John Glenn 's staunchest supporters havebeen his chi ldren - Dav id , 16, and Caro lyn , 14.

Lynn is pictured above in front of the fireplacein the Glenn residence in Ar l ington , Virg in ia ,with a fam i ly favor i te - Chipper . She is in theninth grade a t Wi l l i ams burg J un io r High Schoolan d her principal hobbies are churchwork and art.D u r i n g th e recent tour of the family with th eastronaut, Lynn was notified at the N ewark Airportthat she had been elected president of her class.

Dave, at the left, is a sophomore at Yorktown

Senior High School. He is active in sports an dc h u r c h yo u th activities, and one of his favor i tehobbies is mo de l mak in g .

Both of the younge r Glenns , a l though keptextremely busy on the recent tour, seemed mostunaffected by al l the a t ten t ion show ered on theparty. They were tremendously impressed by theskyline view f rom their suite high in the W aldorfAs tor ia Towers , as well as by the giant t icker-tape parade in N ew York , the throngs l in ing thestreets during the rainy Washington, D.C. parade,and the crowds which gathered in the littlecom-munity of New Co n co rd , O h io , to pay t r ibute toAstronaut John Glenn, his wife , and h is fami ly .



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The Glenn fami ly is one which is ve r yclose with many common interests. Eve r ym e m b e r of the family is active in c h u r c h -work a n d they at tend t h e L i t t l e Fa l l sPresbyterian C h u r c h in Arlington.

A s a family they share many hobbies -water-ski ing, boating, an d camping, amongothers.

L y n n , Annie (whom John Glenn has f r e -quently r e fe r re d to lately as "The Rock ofth e Fa mi ly" ) , and David are shown above

in their home; while a favorite portrait ofth e now famous ast ronaut is at the right.An example of the manner in which th e

family reacts w as brought to light recentlydur i ng a press c o n f e r e n c e for the astro-nauts' ladies. In answer to a query, Anniesaid "Sure," when asked if she 'd like Johnto go again. When asked about th e possi-bili ty of David becoming an as t r onau t sh esaid, "He knows a lot about it."

A little later L y n n w as asked if shewould like to be c ome a female ast ronaut ;sh e also said, "Sure."

As the tour came to a close in Washingtonit was typical that such a close family should

be close together.



AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS TEAM - THE PROJECTM ERCU RY ASTRONAUTS are pictured above in front ofone of their f avo r i t e training vehicles - the U . S . A ir

Force's F-106 je t fighter plane. Left to right: M . ScottCa rpen te r , L. Gordon Cooper, Glenn, Virgil I. "Gus"Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr.,an d Donald K. "Deke" Slayton. Am erican s have longhad their favorite teams in many sports but this teamof space pioneers has found a universa l following ofmany millions.

At th e right, Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr . , preparesto get into the cockpit of an F-106 at Langley A ir ForceBase, Virginia.

On th e page at the right, th e picture at the top showsth e activities in the crew quarters in Hangar S at CapeCanaveral as Glenn's suit is pressure checked to insureagainst any possible leaks dur ing flight. Such check sare made at f r equen t intervals on all the astronautequipment. At lower left Glenn clowns a bit as he donsthe suit with which he has become so familiar. At lowerr igh t , in contrast, is America's f i r s t orbital pilot —serious, suited up and ready to don his he lme t and togo to w o r k .

Glenn's faculty of being able to come up with a readybit of camaraderie at any time proved its worth duringhis long wait for the orbital mission to become a reality.While others connected with Project M erc ury , news rep-resentatives, and the general public fretted and fussedover the delay, Glenn continued in his training w ith thephilosophy that "there'll be another day."



G L E N N IS SHOWN ABOVE in a small cen t r i fuge device, at lower left at a react ion measurement device ,and at the lower right in a pressure chamber rig undergoing just a few of the many tests which w ere admin -istered prior to the selection of the seven-m an team. These tests we re g iven to 32 men who we re con s ideredto be qualif ied by education and expe rience. The tests were designed to expose the volunteers for the space

program to the stresses which we re an t ic ipated du r ing suborbi tal an d orbital f lights . T he successesregistered to date by Astronauts S hepard , Grissom , and Glenn dur ing Pro ject M erc ury miss ions tend to g ivevalidity to the tests and the other qualif ica tions presc ribed by NASA off ic ia ls .



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Infinite care is taken wi th the astronaut's suit -probably the most important part of his equipment andan item which mus t , of necess i ty , be perfect in everyrespect. Glenn is shown above being given an assist byAstronaut Alan B . Shepard, Jr . , f irs t Projec t M ercurysuborbital pilot, and Joe Schmitt , crew equipment spe-cialist, as they check all the many straps to insure thatall is in order for the test. Similar exercises are heldprior to each test, ins ur ing both the reliabili ty of thesui t and the proce dure s involved . At the l ef t , th ef reck le - faced astronaut's eyes seem to smile as he

apparently enjoys a period of relaxation after beingdeclared ready for a simulated flig ht. The hose attachedto his left side leads to the portable ai r -condi t ioner .



CENTRIFUGE TRAINING, conduc-ted at the Johnsvi l le , Pennsylvania ,Naval Air Station, prepares th e astro-nauts physically and psychologicallyfo r the G-forces they encounter a tlift-off an d reentry. T he cen t r i fugeat Johnsville is capable of activitywhich prod uces 16 Gs, and can sim-ulate th e pressure, noises, an d accel-eration of space flight in the gondola.In the case of Glenn in the centr i fuge,at maximum performan ce, his normalweight of 168 pounds would be in-creased to 2 ,688 po un ds . Du r in gProject M e r c u r y missions to datemaximum G-forces encountered have

been about 8 Gs.

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All personnel seem to be pleased as Glennpoints out the results of some systems check-outs to Gus Grissom, Al Shepard , and Dr. BobVoas as they discuss plans fo r America 's f irs tmanned suborbital flight in the top picture atth e left . Below at the lef t , Glenn records th eresults of a procedures trainer test. A s back-up pilot fo r Shepard for the Mercury-Redstone 3f l ight, John Glenn played a vital role in makingsystems checks prior to "okaying" th e space-cra f t as ready for the f l ight . He is shownabove, in the White Room at Hangar S with aMcDonnell engineer, as they check th e progress

of a systems test in Shepard 's Fr eedom 7spacecraft , keeping in constant voice comm u-nication with the astronaut inside. One of themany r equ i r emen t s for the astronauts is thatthey possess necessary engineering ability tocheck out all of the many intricate systems inthe spacecraft, as well as to make recommen-dations to NASA and M cD onnel l engineers asto what systems changes are indicated forimprove me nt. At the righ t, a stocking-footedGlenn assists Shepard into th e spacecraft priorto one of the many tests run in the dus t - f re e"Whi t e Room." Every possible precaution istaken to insure tha t no particles of dust areallowed to reach th e highly sensitive equipment

of th e spacecraft's systems.



ASTRONAUT PARTICIPATION in the activitiesat Mercury Control Center is shown with AlanShepard at the Capsule Communicator's Consoledur ing th e Grissom flight. A s Capsule Communi -cator, Shepard was in constant voice contact withGus during most of his suborbital fl ight . Dur ingthis period, G le nn , who had been back-up pilotfor Grissom, was seated behind Shepard an d alsoserved as back-up Capsule Communicator dur ingth e f l ight . Also shown in the photo are otherProject M e r c u r y personnel at the many consolesin the Control Center, wh ich serves as the hubof all activities during th e flight f r om lift-offth rough recovery - the place w h e r e the expertsin ma ny f ie lds keep in close touch with both th ephys ic a l condition of the astronaut and the per-formance of many of the spacecraft's systems.Adjacent to the operations room, shown here, isthe recovery room in wh ich th e fl ight is plottedan d th e landing area predicted.

A t th e right, Glenn is pictured s tudying thef l ight plan while listening to the conversationbetween Grissom an d Shepard. The astronauts oneach Mercury mission have specific assignmentsto carry out, such as making exterior observa-tions, eating, making periodic reports on thevarious systems, manual control of the space-

c ra f t , and many other duties.



ASTRONAUT GusGrissom, arriving

in the "White Room"

for one of the fre-quen t tests made pri-

or to the Mercury-Redstone 4 flight onJuly 21, 1961, is

greeted by a smilingJohn G l e nn as he

nears his Liberty

Bell 7 spacecraft.Gus is carrying the

portable air condi-tioner which keepsthe astronauts com-fortable f r o m th etime they suit upuntil they are in-serted in the space-

craf t . At the right,

Glenn helps Gus intothe spacecraft.



MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS and physical train-in g for the astronauts are not just a means ofqua li fi cat io n fo r the P ro jec t M erc u ry p ro g ram,but rather a continuing process. Glenn is shownabove as he runs several miles each morning an dafternoon, when the schedule permits, on the beachat either Cape Canaveral or at Cocoa Beach. A tupper an d lower right he is pictured going throughseveral of the many medical tests given the astro-nauts in several phases prior to fl ight on any ofthe M e r c u r y missions - these tests are r equ i r edto make certain that th e pilot of the spacecraft is

in top phys ica l condi t ion for the f l ight .On th e page at the right, Glenn is shown as he

r ecen t ly w en t th ro ugh a series o f d e m a n d i n gmedical examinat ions , a long with back-up pilotM . Scot t Carpenter , at the U .S . Naval School ofAviation Medicine at Pensacola, Florida. Thesepic tured tests serve to illustrate the thoroughnessan d variety of physical tests all the astronauts gothrough periodically to assure they are in topshape and physically capable of continuing in theexac t i n g p ro g ram. The i m p o r t a n c e of havingexcellent eyesight is stressed. The condition ofa ll t h r ee a s t ro n au t s w h o have co mple ted spacefl ights attest to the effectiveness of this program.



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ADDITIONAL "WHITE ROOM" photos indicatethe scope of activities there by an astronaut priorto a M e r c u r y mission. Plastic boots or whi tetennis shoes and white clothing are requ ired in theroom wh ich is electronically dust filtere d, hum id-ity control led, and ai r -cond i t ioned. Glenn isshown above listening to the results of a systemscheck, and, at the right, he checks th e equipment

at the top of the spacecraft, which has a protectivec ove r ing . T h e spac e c ra f t sys te m c he c ks areconducted in the White Room by McDonnell tech-nic ians , NASA engineers , and the astronauts.

On th e r ight-hand page , Glenn is shown at thetop inside the M e r c u r y spacecraf t as he perform sth e ne c e s sary c he c ks and r e c he c ks on the manycomplicated systems of the Fr ie ndsh ip 7 space-craf t . A t bottom l ef t , he discusses the r e su l t sof the test with M cDonnell technicians as he seemspleased with th e results. The picture at the lowerr ight depic ts h im por ing ove r th e resul ts of thetest to make certain that all systems register "go"and to doublecheck that prev ious observat ions ofall parties have been correc t ly coordinated.



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Glenn is shown outside th e alti-tude c h a m b e r prior to going intoit later for an extended envi ron-me ntal control system check out andver i f i ca t ion of the f l ight w o r t h i -ness of the space craf t in a h igh -altitude environment. The massivep u m p s ca n produce th e effect of aflight to 120,000 feet by removingalmost every molecule of air fromth e chamber . On the page at ther igh t , G len n is p ic tu red in thespacecraft in the altitude cham ber,

egressing from the altitude cham-ber at lower left, and leaving thechamber .



One of the most f r equen t tests run by ProjectM e r c u r y astronauts dur ing prelaunch t raining isin th e procedures trainers at Langley AFB and atthe M ercu r y Co n t ro l Cen te r at Cape Canaveral.At the top of the page at the l e f t , Glenn is shownin th e Langley procedures trainer with Jim P r i mat the console, monitoring the s imula ted f l ight .The lower picture at the left shows AstronautGlenn, suited up , dur in g a full-f light s imulationtest in the trainer located in the M ercu ry ControlCenter (this close-up shot gives a good view of theinterior of the Mercury spacecraf t as the astro-naut goes about his many assigned tasks dur in ga full-scale s imulated flight) .

Below is an excellent pictu re of the procedurestrainer at the Cape with Charles Olasky of FlightSimulation Branch, Flight Operations Division, atth e console, offering an unusual view of the com-plexity of the consoles whic h are used not only intraining but also during actual f l ight operations.At the right, John Glenn is shown leaving the side

hatch of the spacecraft after completing the stren-uous preflight tests - smiling as usual at the com-pletion of a hard day 's work . This test, like allothers in the Project M ercury program, has pro-vided th e astronauts with a training vehicle whichhas proved valid during a testing per iod . A susual, John Glenn flashes h is now fam ous sm ileindicating that everyth ing is A -O -K .

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T HE L A U N C H V E H I C L EERECTION is a matter of p r i m eimportance to the mission pilotand the back-up pilot. At thetop, on the page at the l ef t ,Glenn an d C arpe n te r s tand onth e gantry at C o m p l e x 14 andobserve as the huge booste r iswheeled into position. At thebottom the two astronauts get acloser look at the huge rocketswhich w e r e later t o p r o p e lGlenn in to orbi t . At the l e f t ,th e Atlas 109D is shown as itis being raised into position and ,below, Gl en n - looking morelike a struc tura l engin eer thanan a s t r o n a u t - s e e m s to gazeinto th e f u t u r e .

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John Glenn shaves prior to 'taking a little trip," andfollows that daily routine with the low residue breakfastof f i le t , eggs, toast, je l ly , pos tum, and orange juice.At right, left , he starts to don the togs for his trip assuit technician Joe S chmi t t lays out the many compo-nents of the astronaut's suit. After being dressed,Glenn was helped into th e pressure-testing rig, and hissui t w as tested a final time to insure that there were noleaks which might lead to difficulties during th e f l ight .

At lower righ t, Glenn is shown after the com pletion ofsuiting and the pressure check , w aving goodbye toWalter C . Will iams , Associate Director of Man n edSpacecraf t Center and Astronaut Donald K . "Deke"Slayton, who has been named as pilot for the next three-orbi t f l ight on the M ercury-Atlas 7 mission which hasbeen tentatively planned to be made during M ay or Juneof this year.



On February 20 , 1962, Astronaut John Glenndeparted from Hangar S with Joe Schmit t an dD r. William Douglas, entered th e transfer vanand was transported to Launch Complex 14. Itw as from that pad, almost 5 hours later, thathe was launched into space and subsequent lyorbited th e earth three times. This was a cul-mination of a long period of intensive prepara-tion for the history-making flight. Below, heis shown entering his now famous Friendship 7spacecraft and started his prelaunch check-outactivities .

At the right is the lift-off o f the M ercu ry -Atlas 6 as i t carried Astronaut John G lenn onhis journ ey into space - the firs t American toorbit th e earth - the firs t known space travelerto pilot his spacecraft through the space beyondth e atmosphere. After circling th e earth threetimes in 4 ho ur s and 56 minutes f rom lift-offto touchdown at speeds averaging 17,500 milesper hour, he returned to earth and subsequently

w as acknowledged by millions of admirers ashe made a l imited tour to accept th e plauditsof the crowds in a series of celebrations.



F o l lo w in g h i s event fu lj o u rn ey and r e c o v e r e d b ythe USS Noa, he was givena hea r ty w e lco me at GrandTurk I s l an d by A s t ro n au t sM . Scott Carpe nter an d DekeSlayton, an d Public Affa i r sOfficer John Powers. Belowsi x m e m b e r s of the famous

astronaut team get togetherat Grand Turk. Left to right:Ca rpen te r , S lay to n , Glenn,Gus Grissom, Alan Shepard,an d Walter Schirra. GordonCo o per , the seventh astro-na u t , was in Australia at thet i m e m a k i n g h is report onth e mis s io n . T h e page atth e right shows three phasesof th e debr ie f ing act iv i ty atG r a nd T u r k . T h e s e w e r ebut a few of the tests admin-istered to Glenn fol lowinghis orbital f light.



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A J O Y O U S G R O U P a t Patrick A F B a sAstronaut John Glenn returned to his homeland.Shown on the left -hand page, top, is David ,L y nn , John, Jr., Annie, Mrs. John Glenn, St.,

an d John Glenn , S r . , wi th Vice PresidentLyndon B. Johnson. Below, the parade startswith Gl en n r id in g b e t ween t h e President an dM a j . Gen. Leighton Davis. At the top, part ofth e crowd which gathered outside of Hangar Sto hear the President and others speak. Above,President K e n n e d y addresses the crow d withAstronauts Alan B. Shepard, Jr . , and Virgil I."Gus" Grissom at the left and M an n ed Space-craft Center Director Robert R. Gilruth at the

right. At the left , Glenn is shown outsideHangar S with Marine Lt. Col. Thomas Miller,his Arlington, Virginia, neighbor and President

Kennedy . While at Cape C anave r a l , thePres iden t toured M erc ury Cont ro l Center an d

the Launch Pad 14 area and presented theNASA Dis t inguished Serv ice Medal to Glennand to Gi l ru t h .



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TOP: Tecwyn Roberts , G lenn, Chris Kr aft , and Presiden tKennedy at M ercu ry Control Ce nter. Lower left : AstronautM . Scott Carpenter and daughter. Lower right: Glenn speaks

at the press co n fe ren ce .

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JOHN H.GLENN. Jr



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THE NEW YORK SKYLINE nears an d constarts to fall . Below is a small port ion ofcrowd which lined th e streets to get a glimpsJohn Glenn.

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ANO T HE R SCENE which indicates th e size ofthe New York crowd which turned out to see Glenn.At lower left, Glenn stands at City Hall, flanked byM a y o r Robert Wagner and Vice President LyndonJohnson. At lower right, Astronauts Alan Shepardand Gus Grissom return th e waves of the crowd.



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IBelow: AT T H E U N I T E D N A T IO N SUpper right: M E E T I N G GE N E R AL M AC AR T H U RLower right: L YN N AND THE S KYL I N E



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Above , Gove rnor M ichael DiSalle makes a pentat ion. Below, John quips with the homefolks. Lower right, sitting at an old familiar d

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Astronaut John H Glenn Jr Friendship 7

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Transcript of Astronaut John H Glenn Jr Friendship 7