OT: RIP John Glenn

[Deus Irae]

We've lost another American icon.

Former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn has died in Ohio. He was 95.

Glenn became a national hero in 1962 when he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

Hank Wilson with the John Glenn School of Public Affairs says Glenn died Thursday afternoon at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus.

John Glenn, former NASA astronaut and U.S. Senator, dies at the age of 95

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

Godspeed, John Glenn.

 

[Ring 6]

A legend, who got a well deserved 95 year stay.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

What a ****ty year this has been.

 

[Tony2046]

RIP

Serious guts to sit on top of a rocket while being propelled into orbit being one of the first in mankind to do so.

What could've gone wrong? We didn't know because it was a first.

 

[RobertWeathers]

What he accomplished in his life is insane.

Elists Day 1 after Pearl Harbor
63 combat missions in Korean War
Test Pilot
1st American in Space
1st old dude on the Space Shuttle
US Senator
Ran for POTUS
Married 73 years
95 years old

The very definition of a full-life. Maybe 5 lives.

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

For those that were not alive during the Space Race, we and the Soviets cut corners that would not be taken today. We were lucky not to lose anyone on a launch for the first 25 years of manned flight until Challenger....at least six near-misses. What the public remembers is a defective idiot light said the heat shield was loose. We waited seven minutes during reentry to have radio contact reestablished. Then we heard Glenn humming Battle Hymn of the Republic. As RW noted, he was already a hero - that's why he was selected to be the first American in orbit.

 

[RobertWeathers]

For those that were not alive during the Space Race, we and the Soviets cut corners that would not be taken today. We were lucky not to lose anyone on a launch for the first 25 years of manned flight until Challenger....at least six near-misses. What the public remembers is a defective idiot light said the heat shield was loose. We waited seven minutes during reentry to have radio contact reestablished. Then we heard Glenn humming Battle Hymn of the Republic. As RW noted, he was already a hero - that's why he was selected to be the first American in orbit.

I have "The Right Stuff" on DVD. I wish it wasn't so damn long but I love that movie. Incredible what the Mercury 7 went though. They are all heroes- especially Glenn

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

Glenn was the last surviving member of the Mercury 7

 

[Mack Herron]

Talk about a life well-lived.

 

[shmessy]

A decent, humble, accomplished man who served his country, didn't beat his chest and respected others.

That was the best of America.

 

[Patjew]

RIP Sir. What an amazing life.

At least we still have Chuck Yeager. It's going to really hurt when we lose him.

 

[363839]

RIP John Glenn!

 

[RobertWeathers]

Glenn was the last surviving member of the Mercury 7

yea Scott Carpenter passed away a couple of years ago.

Alan Shepard was from Derry, NH and came to my elementary school ( I think he grew up with our principal)

I wish I actually appreciated him being there. If it was now I'd be bending his ears for 192 hours straight.

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

some American near brushes with death on a space flight.

• Gus Grissom's Mercury capsule sank - helicopter fished him out just in time. He would die in the Apollo 1 fire.
• Gemini 8 spun wildly in orbit - Neil Armstrong barely escaped before they passed out.
• Lighting struck Apollo 12 on liftoff
• Apollo 13
• One of three parachutes failed on Apollo 15
• Apollo/Soyuz - nitrogen textroxide poisoning on reentry - all survived.
• Couple of ruptures/near-ruptures in the solid-fuel boosters that would later destroy Challenger.
• Atlantis - 1988, loss of a critical heat tile that could have destroyed it like Columbia.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Ave atque vale, Colonel Glenn. Talk about the "right stuff".

 

[Gumby]

John Glenn gets a "Well played, sir!" for his go-round at life.

Minor quip with one previous poster:

For those that were not alive during the Space Race, we and the Soviets cut corners that would not be taken today. We were lucky not to lose anyone on a launch for the first 25 years of manned flight until Challenger....at least six near-misses. What the public remembers is a defective idiot light said the heat shield was loose. We waited seven minutes during reentry to have radio contact reestablished. Then we heard Glenn humming Battle Hymn of the Republic. As RW noted, he was already a hero - that's why he was selected to be the first American in orbit.

(Wikipedia/Apollo Program): "Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972, with the first manned flight in 1968. It achieved its goal of manned lunar landing, despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test.
. . .
A cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test on January 27 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 killed all three crew members—Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White II, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—and destroyed the Command Module (CM). The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was officially retired by NASA in commemoration of them on April 24, 1967.
[/quote].


I would count those losses as 'during a launch' even if was technically "only" a prelaunch test.