John Glenn Rockets Into Space!

It was on this date in 1962 that John Glenn became the first human to orbit the earth!
47 years ago!

With shuttle flights and space travel seeming commonplace now, it is hard to imagine the emotions of a man who strapped himself to a huge cylinder full of rocket fuel. Can you possibly IMAGINE what was going through his head when mission control said “Godspeed, John Glenn!”? Alan Shepard made it to space and back-and the Soviets had launched a cosmonaut as well. Would any of that have given you any comfort when the U.S. space program was in its infancy-and it was YOU putting your life on the line? Below is a short clip of the launch-and the link is below that in case the player doesn’t come up:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5soUes2-LrU


Heroes are hard to come by---in the early 60’s , the astronauts WERE our heroes! When I was growing up, I wanted to work for NASA and fly into space! With each subsequent flight, however, the novelty wore off—that is, until Apollo 11 and the trip to the moon in 1969. Astronauts expecting a hero’s welcome, complete with ticker tape parade were increasingly greeted with casual indifference—respect, to be sure, but not the level of “rock star” status that was now beginning to accrue to…well, rock stars. The counter-culture captured the imagination of America’s young people. Astronauts became associated with a military mired in Viet Nam-and a straight-laced persona that was increasingly rejected by the youth.

It’s important however to remember—and appreciate an enormously frightening moment in the life of a young man-and our country. The John Glenn we more recently know as a politician from Ohio is a far cry (in our limited exposure) to the STEEL that resides within.

John Glenn—a HERO for any age!