On Monday, it will have been 50 years since John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in his Friendship 7 space capsule. In making his nearly 5-hour flight, and history, in the process, Glenn showed the world that the United States was indeed on-par with the Soviet Union, which had already launched 2 orbital flights as compared to 2 non-orbital launches for the United States.
Now, 50 years later as America's space program languishes, Glenn is pushing for another ambitious, long-term mission: a manned flight to Mars.
Speaking at a press conference (go here for a short video) commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversary of his flight, along with Scott Carpenter, the only other still-living member of the original Mercury 7, Glenn recognized that there was a languishing interest in space exploration, but expressed hope that a major goal, like a permanent base in space or a mission to Mars, could help get the public excited again, thus rekindling the days of the early 60s, when space was all the rage.
Speaking on what he believes to be the future for America in space, Glenn said that "I think we'll do more exploration, whether it's asteroid, Mars or wherever . . . I think it'll go on beyond Mars sometime — probably not in our lifetime, but sometime."
Echoing Glenn's opinion was Carpenter, who when asked what he thought would be America's next destination in space, replied “Mars.”
However, while expressing hope for the future, Glenn has also been critical of the way America has approached space exploration. In recent years, Glenn has reasserted himself as a voice for America's future in space, lamenting the retiring of the shuttle fleet without an immediate replacement (Glenn, along with many other astronauts from NASA's glory years, obviously see the sad irony of having to hitchhike a ride with the Russians) and as a supporter for the development of a new heavy-lift rocket, much akin to the Saturn V of the Apollo years. This second concern has been addressed in the announcement of the SLS rocket, destined for its first flight in 2017.
Glenn was born in Cambridge, Ohio (about a 2 hour drive South of Cleveland) on July 18, 1921. In 1942, he graduated as a Naval aviation cadet and then joined the Marines the following year. In total, Glenn flew 59 combat missions during WWII and 90 more in Korea. During the aeronautical technology boom of the 1950s, Glenn became a test pilot before being selected to join America's inaugural group of astronauts, the Mercury 7.
Returning to Earth an American hero after his legendary flight, NASA refused to let Glenn fly again for risk of losing someone of such immense stature. After leaving NASA in 1964 during the Mercury-Gemini transition, Glenn first went into business and then politics, serving in the Senate for a quarter of a century, a position from which he continued to support America's space programs. In 1998, age 77, Glenn again made history by becoming the oldest astronaut when he flew aboard shuttle Discovery on the STS-95 mission.
With the actual anniversary of Glenn's flight coming on Monday, NASA will be in celebration mode for the next two weeks.
Hopefully, though, Glenn will be proven right with time in that, in the coming years, NASAwill be able to celebrate new achievements in manned spaceflights rather than look back with fondness on its past laurels.
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