John Glenn
Statement by the President on the Passing of John Glenn
“The last of America’s first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens. On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn.”
Statement by NASA Administrator Bolden on the Passing of John Glenn
“The entire NASA Family will be forever grateful for his outstanding service, commitment and friendship. Personally, I shall miss him greatly. As a fellow Marine and aviator, he was a mentor, role model and, most importantly, a dear friend.”
ASU university explorer Scott Parazynski remembers his colleague and friend, astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn
“I first got to spend time with him in January of 1998 after he became part of our crew. He walked in to the crew in a really unique and funny way. He said, ‘If any of you guys call me Sen. Glenn, I’ll ignore you. My name is just John or Payload Specialist No. 2.’ That kind of set it. He just wanted to be one of the crew, no special treatment or favors. A very down-to-earth, humble guy.”
The otherworldly spirit of John Glenn, Homer Hickam, Washington Post
“Ironically, John Glenn, the Mercury astronaut most Americans can still name, was the quiet one. He was strong and steady and never in any manner outlandish. He touched us in a different way. There was something about that balding, red-headed Marine with his lopsided smile that just made people love him. It seemed to those of us following the space race back then that everything Glenn did, his Midwestern, “aw shucks” manner of speech, his obvious love for and dedication to his wife, Annie, even his daily jogs along the Cape Canaveral beach, was pure and wholesomely American.”
Keith’s note: I got this as a text message via satellite phone from astrobiologist Dale Andersen on the shores of Lake Untersee in Antarctica this afternoon: “John Glenn was for me and for so many others of my generation a hero, a legend and The Right Stuff – an icon of space exploration. Interestingly, we just (minutes ago) finished watching Apollo 13 this evening – a wonderful story and a great film (and even better once one has read the flight log end to end). I hope the sacrifices made by those early space pioneers will not be squandered and that they will be honored by our country by re-energizing our space program – one dedicated to exploration, innovation and placing humans back on the surface of the moon and on Mars in the very, very near future. Its time to invest in science, engineering and imagination once again and to move well beyond LEO! From the mountains of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Dale”
RIP John Glenn.
Thank you for your service to your country.
The quintessential space hero. RIP John Glenn.
A true American Hero….let your kids and grandkids read about him, not just his achievements, but the type of person he was….
RIP…..Zero G….and I feel fine! My Hero!
I got into the space world due directly to the awe inspiring courage and class act embodied in John Glenn during his Friendship 7 mission. I was all of nine years old at the time and I will never forget how my entire neighborhood came to a stop as it watched the take-off, listened to his voice from orbit and held our collective breath during his heart stopping reentry. To read his bio is to realize that between his Marine Combat pilot missions in WWII and then in Korea, followed by his test pilot missions it is stunning that he managed to survive – let alone it make it to the Mercury program! I know his going up on the Shuttle was controversial but if any American earned his way to that position (and his mission thrilled a new generation) it was the poster child for an American hero, John Glenn. And he is one of the few heroes I met who, in person, actually exceeded one’s expectations. Amazing, incredible life story and a legacy that ensures he will live in the history books forevermore. And, by the way, I just focused on the space part of the man’s life. I think he packed about ten lifetimes of accomplishments – in aviation, space and in politics and education, to name just the most obvious examples. What an honor to have lived in the same epoch as John Glenn. Godspeed, indeed. Courtney Stadd
A true American Hero. As the last of the Mercury 7 an era has ended.
#Hero
Thanks for the lesson in leadership Senator.
VR and //SALUTE//
RocketEconomist327
A true American Hero and American role model. He lead by example. Godspeed John Glenn.
During preparations for the Shuttle flight he never complained, whether standing in the hot sun for almost an hour with his younger crewmates for a press event when they arrived at KSC or dutifully following the instructions of support personnel. There was controversy about his flight, since not much can be learned from a single subject. But perhaps we did learn that even in old age he had honor, dignity and courage.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
–Tennyson, Ulysses
I’ve been thinking about this Tennyson piece since you posted it- and reading it admittedly for the first time in more than 30 years.
When I studied English Lit the department was littered with Romanticists, all of whom deprecated Tennyson (OK, some lines are a little sentimental – “My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure” -, but it was the age). In other words, Coleridge and Wordsworth ruled the earth. Or the department, any way.
But I always found Tennyson’s ability to capture the spirt of the age enthralling. Thanks for this reminder.
ps: Even though fairly well grounded in the classics, I never understood what Tennyson meant by “the great Achilles, whom we knew”. Still it’s a powerful image.
Presumably the Greeks fought Achilles at Troy, and though he was an enemy, they respected him, and imagined that they might meet him again in some afterlife.