First American in space orbit, and the oldest person in space at 77.
He lived a pretty amazing life:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn
Personal computing discussed
Moderators: askfranklin, renee, emkubed, Captain Ned
Krogoth wrote:There goes the last of the Mercury Seven.
Pville_Piper wrote:Another hero gone...
Captain Ned wrote:Krogoth wrote:There goes the last of the Mercury Seven.
His Stuff was Right. He and Annie spent 73 years together.
chuckula wrote:
just brew it! wrote:Indeed. The astronauts of NASA were the heroes of my childhood. Unlike many of my peers, I was never much into comic books -- who needed comic book heroes, when there were real-life heroes you could read about?
Captain Ned wrote:just brew it! wrote:Indeed. The astronauts of NASA were the heroes of my childhood. Unlike many of my peers, I was never much into comic books -- who needed comic book heroes, when there were real-life heroes you could read about?
I know JBI gets it, but for the younger gerbils just go look at a Mercury "spacecraft". Every one of the 6 that flew is to be found (though the one Gus flew is a bit of a mess, seabed and all); here's the list:
https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and- ... /index.cfm
Look into that tiny SPAM can and just wonder how any sane man volunteered for this mission. The last Mercury mission, flown by Gordo Cooper, went for a day and a half in that little box.
Pville_Piper wrote:December 12, 1965. Gemini 6. Titan II booster. Booster ignites but shuts down 1.5 seconds later. Wally Schirra (Mercury Seven) doesn't pull the handle to eject (Gemini had ejection seats, not an abort/escape tower) and, in not following protocol, saves the day. The capsule atmosphere was 100% O2 at full atmospheric pressure and they'd been soaking in it for 90 minutes themselves while the capsule had been doing so for hours. The ejection seat rockets firing into that would have turned the two of them into Roman candles had they punched out. Sadly, NASA didn't see the problem with 100% full-pressure O2 until after the Apollo 1 fire.It takes some balls to strap yourself to a ICBM and go for a ride...
Captain Ned wrote:NASA would never man-rate the Titan II today. It ran on the same hypergolic (mix them and they immediately burn on their own) fuels that the Soviet/Russian Proton and the Chinese Long March series use today. UDMH/N2O4. From my father's Titan II silo days, N2O4 leaks were universally known as BFRCs.
Captain Ned wrote:Here's your spacecraft! A 2,000 pound can made out of corrugated metal and some ablative plastic on the underside to protect you from 3,000 degree heat on re-entry. Mind your re-entry angle, now. By the way, you're going into orbit on top of an Atlas rocket, which likes to blow up every now and then. Good luck!just brew it! wrote:Indeed. The astronauts of NASA were the heroes of my childhood. Unlike many of my peers, I was never much into comic books -- who needed comic book heroes, when there were real-life heroes you could read about?
I know JBI gets it, but for the younger gerbils just go look at a Mercury "spacecraft". Every one of the 6 that flew is to be found (though the one Gus flew is a bit of a mess, seabed and all); here's the list:
https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and- ... /index.cfm
Look into that tiny SPAM can and just wonder how any sane man volunteered for this mission. The last Mercury mission, flown by Gordo Cooper, went for a day and a half in that little box.