NASA's first orbital space flight 55 years ago created a large number of questions, many of which have not yet been solved.
55 years ago this month (February 20, 1962), John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. A race between the USA and the USSR was taking place at that time, and the Soviet Union managed to accomplish several important missions first. It was both the first satellite (Sputnik, 1957) and the first man to go into orbit (Yuri Gagarin, 1962).
The US has already sent two astronauts into space before Glenn went there. But the launches of Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom in 1961 were suborbital flights. This means that the spacecraft flew up and then splashed down, without going into orbit.
The achievement of Glenn (three orbits in space) attracted the attention of the whole world to him. Here are the highlights of Glenn’s flight, which was recently shown in Hidden Numbers. Glenn died at the end of 2016 in his 95th year of life.
Marine Astronaut # 1
John Herschel Glenn (standing at the far right) was one of the first seven NASA astronauts, named Mercury 7 in honor of NASA’s first human space program. Astronauts were selected in 1959 from a group of military pilots. Glenn was the only one taken from the marines. Before joining NASA, he served during World War II in Korea and made test flights at the prestigious Naval Test Test School in Maryland, as well as the first supersonic transcontinental flight. Before his flight, two other members of Mercury 7 were already flying: Alan Shepard (sitting second from left) and Gus Grissom (sitting left). Each of them made a suborbital rocket flight on Redstone. For Glenn's orbital flight, another type of rocket was needed - the Atlas. He was the first to test it.
Learn about the human body
When Glenn got into a tiny spacecraft (Friendship 7), the US had about 30 minutes of space flight experience. At that time, the effects on the human body were poorly studied, so several experiments were carried out to find out what happens if a person stays in space for a couple of hours.
“I had to check my eyes,” said Glenn in 1997. “I felt some kind of imbalance or dizziness. They didn't know if we could swallow normally. I was not going to stay there for too long, so I had to have two things to write or nothing. But they wanted me to take food and swallow it, which I did. They also found out if there were changes in well-being, in fingers and other parts of the body. I was interested in any tendency to disease ”.
Thermal warning
Glenn started on February 20, 1962, after several delays due to weather and equipment problems. In addition to scientific experiments, he was given the task of guiding the spacecraft manually in order to understand whether he could maintain altitude. It turned out that the automatic control system still did not work, so he simply had no choice but to take the steering wheel. He spent almost 5 hours in space. At the end of the flight, the data showed that the heat shield does not work, which means that the device is under threat of destruction during the descent due to the heat caused by friction against the atmosphere. Glenn was instructed to use the brake motor unit as a precaution. Late analysis showed that the problem was false.
Eye problems
Doctors wanted to know how the eyes change in space, and whether the form will affect the vision. Then there was no change, while Glenn spent time in microgravity. But in recent years, NASA and other agencies have discovered eye problems with astronauts who have been in orbit for months. These studies are still ongoing.
“In the upper part of the dashboard there is a schedule for an eye chart that is used in the doctor’s office,” said Glenn in 1997. “I had to read the smallest line every 20 minutes. And if there were changes, I would immediately report back. ”
Fame and statements about female astronauts
Glenn is back world-famous, receiving attention from even President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy. He was awarded the NASA Medal of Distinguished Service and even became a friend of the president. He also received congratulations from New York and spoke to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics in 1962. He said that he was in favor of selecting astronauts from among military pilots, which was 100% male. “Men go to war and also test various technologies. And the absence of women in this area is a factor of public order, ”said Glenn in the spirit of sexism of his era. Over the following years, his position softened, and he even advocated sending Sally Reid, the first female astronaut who flew in 1983, into space.
Back to space
After the flight, Glenn was not allowed into space because they were considered too valuable a figure. But he left NASA and found a place in the US Senate. After several unsuccessful attempts, he was chosen in Ohio in 1974, where he served until 1999.
But his space mission has not yet been completed. In 1998, Glenn flew the Discovery shuttle for an eight-day operation at the age of 77, which made him the oldest person in space. It was an experiment that was going to test how space affects the elderly body. Glenn remained an active speaker and spoke at the 30th anniversary of Apollo 11 in Washington in 2009 (he was 88 years old). He died in December 2016, being the last member of Mercury 7.
