Word: astronaut
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...surprise of no one who ever knew him, Glenn was one of the seven former test pilots who were picked to become the nation's first astronauts. But even among the astronauts, John Glenn stood out in his determination. By his own decision, Glenn spent only weekends with his family in Arlington, lived Monday through Friday at Virginia's Langley Air Force Base so that he could better concentrate on the program. He ran two miles before breakfast every morning, sweated himself from 195 lbs. down to a flat-bellied 168. To train himself to handle a capsule tumbling...
Minimum Risk. Each of the seven astronauts was given a special responsibility in Project Mercury. Shepard studied the technique of getting the astronaut out of the capsule after landing in the sea. Grissom was in charge of the capsule control system. Glenn specialized in the capsule's cockpit layout, contributed substantially to its design. Among other things, he suggested an auxiliary power system that was adopted by McDonnell Aircraft Corp., designer and builder of the spacecraft. Glenn's own Friendship 7 (which he named himself after consulting his family) was tailor-made to his specifications. He color-coded his instrument...
Nearly 35,000 people contributed in substantive ways to the space flight of Astronaut John Glenn. Besides his fellow astronauts and a staff of 2,000 at Cape Canaveral, 15,000 men stood by for recovery or rescue operations on ships stretched across the Atlantic, 500 technicians manned 18 tracking stations on four continents and two oceans, and 15,000 scientists, technicians and factory workers who had labored for nearly four years on the space program left their imprint on the flight. Among members of this huge team, five men stand...
Helping Hand. From the Noa, Glenn proceeded by helicopter, carrier and plane to Grand Turk Island for his two-day debriefing and the preparations for his homecoming. But he had time to go spearfishing and to lend a helping hand to Fellow Astronaut Scott Carpenter when a skindiver lost consciousness at a depth of 80 ft. Carpenter brought him to the surface, and Glenn hauled him into a boat, where the diver quickly recovered. Then Vice President Lyndon Johnson flew in from Washington to escort Glenn back to the overwhelming welcome at Cape Canaveral. "In my country," said Johnson...
Telling Everything. At Cape Canaveral, a few newsmen criticize Powers for putting words in the astronauts' mouths ("A-O.K.," an expression attributed to Astronaut Shepard, is actually Powers' inspiration), and for basking in the reflection of their glory (he always talks in terms of "we," leading newsmen to call him "the eighth astronaut"). Describing what Glenn had for breakfast before last week's launch and whom he had it with. Powers let it be known that he was there, too. "I got there a little late," he confided to newsmen...