Scrapbook 1: Feb 1962 — John Glenn, Scott Carpenter

Mystery of Glenn Flight: Glowing ‘Gems’ in Space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Strange specter in space: Astronaut John Glenn and his spacecraft, surrounded by thousands of glowing particles.

It began at sunrise over the Pacific Ocean as Glenn sped toward the United States on his first of three orbits. Minutes later he reported:

“The only really unusual thing so far (besides a problem in steering) were the little particles, luminous particles around the capsule—just thousands of them—right at sunrise over the Pacific.”

Glenn said the little particles seemed to be traveling right along with him.

Speculation began. What was this mysterious shadow?

Were the particles meteorites and space debris? Why would they glow?

Or were they bits of dust from the heat shield of the spaceship, reflecting sunlight?

Or were they the lost needles of Project West Ford, the plan to put a belt of tiny wires into orbit around the earth to act as a reflector for radio and television signals?

It is not likely that the shower Glenn saw was the needles because they were put into a higher orbit and very likely did not spread because the package carrying them failed to open.

Or was this some new magic that nature had dreamed up to confound man’s first steps away from his world?

Some things can be deducted. The particles seemed to be traveling with Glenn in his orbit. That would likely mean that they came somehow from the spaceship itself and had the same speed, the same orbit.

Glenn noticed them at sunrise when they glowed. So they likely reflected sunlight, rather than having a glow of their own.

One source close to the Mercury project offers one of the simplest and most plausible explanations:

One of the cooling devices in the spacecraft, which uses water to remove heat, vents the water into space through an exhaust tube. This would produce a water vapor in space, a vapor moving with the spacecraft.

And these droplets, frozen into crystals in the frigidity of space, caught the light as the sun rose.

Kennedy Call To Glenn in Space No Go

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) One minor failure—a Presidential telephone call that didn’t go through—was disclosed in the wake of John Glenn’s three-orbital flight around the world.

Federal space agency officials said original plans called for President Kennedy to pick up an ordinary phone in the White House and, through the Mercury control communications system in Canaveral, talk by radio with Glenn in outer space.

The President was supposed to converse with the astronaut during his first orbit while he was over Florida.

However, something went wrong at the communications end in Washington and the call was never made.

The reason for the failure is being investigated.

N.Y. ‘40-Plus Club’ Hails Glenn as Hero

NEW YORK (AP) — Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. is a hero to people in many parts of the world, but he’s an extra-special hero to New York’s “Forty Plus Club.”

“In addition to conquering space Colonel Glenn has endeared himself eternally in the hearts of all men in America who have had difficulty finding re-employment due to age discrimination,” a club statement said.

“Glenn, over 40, accomplished a miraculous feat demanding the keenest reactions, mentality, skills and ability.

“Forty-plus salutes the man who carried this message around the world — when you want a real man to do a man’s job, send a man over 40.”

Astronaut Saves Diver, With Assist From Glenn

GRAND TURK ISLAND, Bahamas (AP)—Astronaut Scott Carpenter rescued a skin diver with an assist from John H. Glenn Jr.

The man, whose name was not disclosed, had dived to see how deep he could go without a tank of air, Carpenter said. He went down 110 feet, but apparently became unconscious at a depth of 80 feet.

Carpenter, swimming with the man from a local divers club, had accompanied him down.

Carpenter brought the man to the surface and Glenn helped pull him in. The man revived immediately.

Glenn was taking time out from physical examinations and giving details of his flight to officials.

TURNABOUT — John H. Glenn Jr. turns the tables on nurse Dee O’Hara and examines her eyes. The Marine lieutenant colonel was found to be in excellent condition after his flight. —UPI

WASHINGTON, FEB. 20

The United States sent Lieutenant-Colonel John Glenn triumphantly into orbit three times round the earth today and recovered him “hale and hearty” from the sea near Puerto Rico five hours 14 minutes after his take-off from Cape Canaveral. The flight was as nearly perfect as anyone could have expected and, completed within the sight and hearing of the world, was a tremendous triumph for the United States.

The nation watched on television and much of the world listened to the Voice of America as Colonel Glenn, his past frustrations forgotten, exchanged a stream of technical information and friendly talk with his fellow astronauts stationed at tracking stations round the globe.

NINE HOURS INSIDE

All the most crucial moments of the flight—take-off, attainment of orbit, reentry into the earth’s atmosphere and recovery from the sea—went perfectly and the only trouble of any sort, which affected the attitude control system, was not serious and did not interfere with the flight.

It was just five minutes after 3 o’clock this afternoon (Eastern Standard Time) when the nation received the news that Colonel Glenn, describing his own condition as “excellent”, had been landed in the Freedom VII capsule on the deck of the destroyer Noa. He had then been almost exactly nine hours in the capsule, which he entered at Cape Canaveral before dawn.

He was being taken to Grand Turk Island, in the Bahamas, after being “debriefed” and medically examined.

“REAL FIREBALL”

As Colonel Glenn re-entered the earth’s atmosphere the heat shield heated to a temperature of about 3,000°. Observing it through his periscope, he commented over the radio: “Boy, that was a real fireball.” He said the retrorockets, when fired, felt as though they were sending him “clear back to Hawaii”.

Colonel Glenn made a point of insisting that he was ready for a third orbit. “I am go for another orbit”, he said, helping to resolve the doubts of officials on the ground. The bulk of his conversation with the ground consisted of a string of figures and facts largely unintelligible to the layman, but it was punctuated with such comments as, “I am feeling real well up here. All systems are go. I am having no problems.”

Speaking of the trouble he had in controlling the spacecraft at one point, Glenn said: “Getting some erratic indications in all axes . . . over-yawed to the right . . . low-yaw right”.

“FLIGHT CHIT”

Over Muchea, Australia, on the third orbit Glenn radioed to astronaut Cooper: “Hey, Gordon, I want to send a message. Tell the marine commandant I have four hours of required flight time and request that a flight chit be prepared for me.”

The scene on the recovery ship could not be seen on television, of course, and had not been described in detail by this evening. Most of the reporters attached to the recovery forces were on board the aircraft carrier Randolph, and were therefore not present when Colonel Glenn stepped from the capsule on board the destroyer Noa.

All the information available came in brief reports from the Mercury control centre.

The complexity of today’s operation, the volume of information relayed, and above all the scope of the flight almost defy description. In the course of his orbits, for example, Colonel Glenn saw three dawns and three nightfalls, crossed the International Date Line three times, passed three times from winter into summer, and crossed the Equator six times.

“I FEEL FINE”

His heartbeats, his blood pressure, his reaction to four hours of weightlessness, his ability to move his head, to eat from special containers, and to control the attitude of the cone-shaped Mercury capsule were among the information monitored by a system of 60,000 route miles of communications facilities; and, as if this was not enough, Colonel Glenn found time to thank the citizens of Perth, Australia, for turning on their lights for him, to search the skies for views of Orion and Sirius, and to remark: “I feel fine; the view is tremendous.”

It was America’s day and the nation basked in justifiable pride. Americans felt on equal terms, whether rightly or not, with the Soviet Union and one Senator spoke for many when he said: “I think the Russians are going to find that we not only have the capacity to come up from behind, but also to forge ahead as front runner”.

WASHINGTON, FEB. 20

As soon as it was known that Colonel Glenn, the American space pilot, had been picked up, President Kennedy expressed “the great happiness and thanksgiving of all of us” that he had returned safely to earth.

Mr. Kennedy said that Colonel Glenn and the other astronauts were the sort of Americans of whom everyone could be most proud. The President recalled that Colonel Glenn, when a test pilot, had raced the sun across the United States and had lost. “Today”, said the President, “he won.”

Mr. Kennedy will go to Cape Canaveral on Friday morning to offer his personal congratulations to Colonel Glenn and there will be a triumphal parade in Washington. The President telephoned his congratulations to Colonel Glenn this evening and later to his wife.

Mrs. Glenn said it was the happiest day of her life and Colonel Glenn’s parents made a similar comment.

Vice-President Johnson set off for the Bahamas and Mercury officials, level-headed to the end, said that there was still a long way to go. The rest of the nation allowed itself some hours of well earned relaxation and mutual congratulation.