Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

John Glenn, First American To Orbit The Earth, Dies At 95 (npr.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the rest-in-peace dept.

BenBoy writes: John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 -- December 8, 2016) was an American aviator, engineer, astronaut, and United States Senator from Ohio. He was one of the "Mercury Seven" group of military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA to become America's first astronauts and fly the Project Mercury spacecraft. He passed away today at age 95.

12 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Godspeed, John Glenn by sh00z · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ad astra per aspera.

    1. Re:Godspeed, John Glenn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some people waste their lives, or never really accomplish anything. John Glenn was not one of those people.

    2. Re:Godspeed, John Glenn by networkBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Mind you, where several of said tin cans had exploded, crashed, or otherwise failed in a (fatal to the meat inside) way.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    3. Re:Godspeed, John Glenn by blindseer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I assume you were also a US Senator, an officer in the USMC, a US Navy test pilot and flight instructor, and a war veteran. This short list of accomplishments is far beyond being "meat in a can".

      He was also the first person to complete a transcontinental flight that averaged supersonic speeds. He had to refuel at subsonic speeds but the average speed through the coast to coast flight exceeded that of a typical rifle bullet. That is not an easy thing to do and is something for the record books.

      He is also the oldest person to date to go into space. He was a "payload specialist" where one could argue he was the payload. You might argue this accomplishment is simply being "meat in a tin can" again but just living to be 77 is an accomplishment, and he went into space at that age. If you live to be that old, and are willing to climb into a tin can that accelerates at about 9Gs, and live to talk about it for nearly 20 years then you might have some standing to claim this is nothing to celebrate.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
  2. I remember... by surfdaddy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I remember as a kid of 5 in kindergarten seeing crude animation live on TV as John Glenn orbited the earth. I also remember his return flight on the Shuttle when he was in his late '70s. In between he was a Senator. What a magnificent American and human being. Why don't we seem to see more of those types of people in public life today?

    1. Re:I remember... by olsmeister · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not to mention the first cross country supersonic flight. The man had balls of steel.

    2. Re:I remember... by robinsonne · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because now we're so risk-averse we can't even let kids play in the park by themselves without the parents getting arrested.

    3. Re:I remember... by fsagx · · Score: 4, Funny

      balls of steel.

      That's a common misconception. His balls were actually made from glass fibers embedded in a custom high-temperature resin.

  3. Misses the big points. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Informative

    John Glenn wasn't just "one of the Mercury astronauts." He was the first American to orbit the earth, as well as the last Mercury astronaut to die.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  4. This was a hero by Lucas123 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    John Glenn was a U.S. Marine fighter pilot who flew 59 combat missions over the South Pacific during WWII and 63 combat missions during the Korean War. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism or extraordinary achievement six times! In Korea, he got the nickname "magnet ass" because he attracted so much enemy flak on his missions.

    Oh, and then he went on to become a test pilot, the first American to orbit the Earth, a U.S. senator and then the oldest man to go into space.

    He stopped flying planes at age 90.

    "The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel." John Glenn.

    If you're looking for someone children can look up to, he's it.

  5. I was fortunate to have met him a few year ago by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I took my daughter to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum when she was 7. John Glenn was there on his birthday showing some people around. I think he had turned 89 or 90 and he really could move around quickly. He was very friendly and I was able to get a picture of him with my daughter. She was so excited to have been able to meet an actual astronaut. My wife and I got a chuckle out of the young security guard that was with him. When people asked who he was, he said that he was the worlds oldest astronaut.

  6. Re:2016 by ZipK · · Score: 4, Informative

    Has anything happened this year that hasn't been an unmitigated disaster?

    Cubs win world series.