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John Glenn - then and now

By Tim Wood

Originally published in The Columbia Daily Herald in the fall of 1998

John Glenn has returned to space at the age of 77. How have things changed in the 36 years since his Friendship 7 orbital mission?

* In 1962, Glenn rode into orbit on top of a converted Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile that generated approximately 350,000 pounds from its three engines. The space shuttle generates about 7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, or about 20 times the power of the Atlas rocket. Each of the shuttle's main engines generates 375,000 pounds of thrust, more than all three of the Atlas engines together.

* One person could fit - barely - in the Mercury capsule in which Glenn traveled three orbits in 1962. The space shuttle can hold seven people, a number equal to all of the original Mercury astronauts.

* Space flight was dominated by males in 1962. All of the astronauts were male, as were the flight support personnel. When the shuttle lifted off Thursday, the launch announcer, flight director and assistant flight director all were women. Within the next year, a woman will command a shuttle mission for the first time.

* Glenn's Friendship 7 space capsule ended its flight by splashing down in the ocean. Glenn and his capsule were picked up by an aircraft carrier. If all goes according to plan, the shuttle will end its mission on terra firma in Florida.

* The ride aboard that Atlas rocket was a bit rougher than the shuttle. The young John Glenn had to endure 7 G's - or pressure equal to seven times the force of gravity. The shuttle flight profile is designed to limit pressure to 3 G's. This is to protect the experiments on board the spaceship as well as the crew.

* Glenn's first flight lasted three orbits, or about four hours. He remarked after the flight about seeing three sunsets in one day. He could see a lot more sunsets on his current flight, which will last about a week.

* Despite Glenn's considerable skills as pilot, his Mercury spacecraft was designed to fly automatically. In fact, chimpanzees preceded the Mercury astronauts into space. Although primates show signs of intelligence, no one has found one that can fly the shuttle. Glenn's Mercury capsule parachuted into the ocean; the shuttle will land -without the benefit of engines - on a runway. Glenn will not be piloting the shuttle.

* In 1962, Glenn was famous not only as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, but also as a highly decorated Marine fighter pilot. In addition to shooting down three enemy aircraft in the Korean conflict, he set a record for the fastest transcontinental aircraft flight. The record since has been broken, but it was an achievement that contributed to his legend. Today, Glenn is famous not only for his space flight, but for his service as a four-term U.S. Senator.

* Glenn's Mercury capsule had an "escape tower" - a small rocket on top of the spacecraft that was designed to carry the astronaut and capsule away from the rocket and launch pad in case of an emergency. Fortunately, it never had to be used. Interestingly, the shuttle has no such provision. The crew can get out of the spacecraft before launch; but during the first minute or two of flight, the shuttle crew has no means of quick escape in the event of a catastrophic failure. Shuttle watchers generally don't start to relax until the solid rocket boosters separate about two minutes into the flight. At that point, the main source of problems - the boosters - are gone, and the shuttle has enough altitude to attempt a landing back at Cape Canaveral or ditch in the ocean.

Some things are still the same:

* Walter Cronkite remains a great newscaster.

* The newscasters still use models to explain how the spacecraft works.

* There are few things more exciting than watching a successful manned space flight launch.

* Even though we're not in a Cold War race with the Russians, space exploration is still vitally important for our nation's future.

* John Glenn still has the Right Stuff.