John Glenn
On the forty-fifth anniversary of his Mercury space flight, John Glenn talked about that flight in a crowded auditorium at COSI here in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio governor Ted Strickland introduced Glenn with lavish praise. That prompted Glenn to recall an earlier occasion, when he had been introduced by someone who said, “There are very few authentic heroes in the world today, but our speaker tonight is one of them.”
Glenn said he’d been embarrassed by such praise, but on the way home he mused to his wife Annie, “You know, there really aren’t many real heroes in the world today.”
Annie replied, “You’re right, and I’ll tell you something: there’s one less than you think there is.”
He discussed his Mercury flight in some detail. He showed slides, including the first hand-held photo taken from earth orbit. At the time of Glenn’s flight, NASA didn’t have a photography department. They thought taking pictures would distract the astronaut from his other tasks. Glenn found a $45 Minolta camera with automatic film advance and persuaded NASA brass to let him take it along and take some pictures during his flight. (The photo shown here may not be the photo shown during the slide show. It was the closest match I found.)
He said several times that he felt fortunate to have had the opportunities to do the things he had done. He said he wasn’t the type of person to feel envious of others, but he might make an exception for Neil Armstrong.
Glenn was the oldest of the original seven Mercury astronauts. He became the oldest person to go into orbit in 1998 when he flew on Space Shuttle Discovery, when he was 77 years old. Now he is 85, and he still has the Right Stuff.