He was the archetypal American hero, square-jawed, clear-eyed and crew-cut, a test pilot, a family man, a man’s man dubbed the “Clean Marine.”

Still is, truth be told, except today he is 90 years old.

John Glenn was a hero among heroes during the halcyon days of America’s Mercury space program, an overachiever among overachievers, a striking figure in that program’s requisite shiny space suit.

He wasn’t the first man in space, he wasn’t even the first American, in fact, but he was chosen to be the first Yank to circle the Earth.

He made three orbits, three circuits around this big blue planet after a ride aloft atop a metal monster belching fire and spent fuel, strapped in a seat inside a metal capsule.

It was 50 years ago Monday.

We were trying to beat the Russians, but failing. Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, and the first to orbit the earth, in April 1961. In August of that year, Russia’s Gherman Titov spent more than a day in space, completing 17 orbits and earning the distinction of being the first person to ever sleep in space, and to suffer from space sickness.

Jan. 27, 1962, Glenn climbed into his capsule, dubbed Friendship 7. The countdown reached 13 minutes prior to launch before the mission was postponed due to bad weather.

The day before Valentine’s Day, they tried again. Then on Valentine’s Day, then Feb. 15 and Feb. 16. Each time the weatherman prevailed.

Launch day was rescheduled for Feb. 20. While installing the hatch, workmen broke a bolt, requiring a 40-minute hold in the countdown. Two more holds were required, one to add fuel, one to refill liquid oxygen tanks.

Finally, after all of the delays, the count progressed right down to zero and the Atlas rocket on which he was perched began lifting Glenn into space. Fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter sent Glenn off with the words “Godspeed, John Glenn,” a sentiment Glenn didn’t hear until after he landed.

“Roger. The clock is operating. We’re under way,” Glenn said just after liftoff.

At just over five minutes into the flight, the capsule turned and gave Glenn his first good view of the horizon below. “Oh, that view is tremendous,” he told controllers on the ground.

The flight was not without flaws. There was an issue with the automatic yaw control system that kept the capsule from swinging its nose from side to side. Glenn manually controlled the capsule for most of the flight.

The temperature inside his suit was too warm, and a warning light came on indicating low fuel in the automatic control system.

But the biggest problem facing Glenn was “Segment 51,” a sensor indicating that the capsule’s protective heat shield was loose. The heat shield, it was feared, was being held in place only by the straps holding the rockets that would slow the capsule for re-entry.

Controllers on the ground decided the retro rocket pack should be retained rather than jettisoned as planned after the rockets had fired to slow Friendship 7.

Had the heat shield slipped out of place, Glenn could have burned up along with his capsule due to the high temperatures generated by the friction of re-entry.

As it turned out, the “Segment 51” warning light was faulty, and the heat shield remained firmly in place. Still, Glenn reported “That’s a real fireball outside,” during his ride back to Earth.

Due to a miscalculation, Friendship 7 came down 40 miles short of its planned landing spot. The destroyer USS Noa hauled the capsule onto its deck, where Glenn opened the capsule’s hatch and climbed out.

American pride, wounded by Soviet firsts like Sputnik and the flights of Gagarin and Titov, was somewhat restored by Glenn’s mission.

Glenn received a hero’s welcome. He was invited to the White House and was given a ticker tape parade down the canyon of heroes in New York City.

John Glenn hardly rested on his laurels. He was elected to the U.S. Senate from his native Ohio, where he served for 25 years.

And he finally returned to space, flying aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998 and becoming, at age 77, the oldest person ever to fly in space.

These days ,Glenn laments the interruption in America’s manned space program. When Glenn first flew into space America was chasing the Russians, now we rely on them to ferry our astronauts to and from the International Space Station. He fears America will lose its position as the nation leading the way in space.

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth, America didn’t know for sure that we could do it. He proved we could. But today we know for sure we can’t.

One day America will rebuild its manned space program. One day American astronauts will fly in American spacecraft, whether to the ISS, the moon, an asteroid or to Mars.

And a new generation of astronauts will carry America’s flag proudly into a new era of space exploration.

When they plant their feet on the soil of an alien world, they will in fact be standing on the shoulders of men like John Glenn.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle. Email him at jmullin@enidnews.com.