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| Hi. My name is Erin. I recently had to do a school report on John Glenn and decided to put the information in the form of a web-page. Hope you enjoy! John Glenn. Many consider him an American hero for his wondrous efforts in space. Here's his story. John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born in Cambridge, Ohio on July 18, 1921. Although he was born in Cambridge, he grew up in New Concord, Ohio. He also attended school there. As he grew up, he attended Muskingham college but withdrew to serve his country in World War II. He entered the marine corps and was trained as a pilot. When he returned from the war, he married his sweetheart Anna Margaret Castor. But he was soon called to serve in Korea. His awards include: Navy Unit Commendation Air Medal( w/ 18 clusters serving WWII & Korea) Astiatic-Pacifc Campaign Medal American Campaign Medal WWII Victory Medal Distinguished Flying Cross( won six times) Korean Service Medal United Nations Service Medal Korean Presidential Unit Citation China Services Medal National Defense Service Medal Navy's Astronaut wings Marine Corps Astronaut Medal NASA Distinguished Service Medal Congressional Space Medal of Honor And of course, the great award of respect from the American people.Nineteen sixty-two was a landmark year for John Glenn, NASA, the United States, and the world. Along with six other astronauts, Glenn was scheduled to rise above the earth travelling 17,500 miles per hour and come back again...all in one piece. On February 20, 1962 millions watched him do just that. Glenn piloted the Mercury-Atlas 6 "Friendship 7" for a total of four hours, fifty-five minutes, and twenty-three seconds in space. The crew orbited the earth three times. It was at this time that Glenn made his famous quote..."Zero-G and I feel fine." "Friendship 7", the seven representing the number of crew members, was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Perth, Australia turned on all their house and street lights hoping to be seen from space. Glenn later recalled having "seen a glowing part of Australia". He later retired from the manned Spacecraft Center on January 16, 1964.He then retired from the Marine Corps on January 1, 1965. In that same year, he ran for a seat in the Senate but withdrew because of a head injury, He later ran in 1970 but was not elected. After many years as just a candidate, he was elected in 1974 and again in 1980. Senator Glenn helped bring about the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act. He also proposed an arms control plan and wished to give more federal aid to education and job skills programs. He nominated himself as a candidate for the Presidency in 1983 but was eliminated in the primaries. Glenn was again elected to the Senate in 1986 and 1992.The novelty of space travel soon wore off and John Glenn wasn't as big of a celebrity as he used to be. Excluding the state of Ohio, John Glenn was 'put on the back burner' of people's minds so to speak. But on January 16th, 1998, NASA announced that Senator Glenn would return to space. Americans everywhere began excitedly preparing for October, when Glenn would take to the skies once more. Following the age-old American tradition of "make money while you can", many people began manufacturing products related to the return to space. Booths were set up at Cape Canaveral selling everything from small space shuttles to space suits for Beanie Babies. As the big day drew closer, an influx of spectators began camping around the Kennedy Space Center in order to receive a great view of the launch. Finally, with much anticipation, "the" day had arrived. All seven members of the crew were awakened by mission control at 8:45 AM (eastern time)by Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World. "They soon set to work on many preliminary tasks required for lift-off. Glenn was reported to show no signs of any problems during the launch and the adjustment to weightlessness. Glenn once again quoted his famous line..."Zero-G and I feel fine". Shuttle Commander Curtis Brown said "Let the record that John has a smile on his face and it goes from ear to ear and we haven't been able to remove it yet." A missing panel caused a few minute delays but was believed not to pose a problem. Attending the launch was President Clinton and the First Lady Hillary, Leonardo DiCaprio, Evander Holyfield, and baseball great Ted Williams. President Clinton used the opportunity to promote the space program. At 2:19 P.M. that day, the crew of Discovery was launched inot space to perform various tests. Glenn activated an experiment to test the encapsulation of anti-tumor drugs in microgravity, while the rest of the crew worked on a larger microgravity experiment. After performing a number of tests over nine days, the crew was scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center. Meteorologists predicted increasing cloudiness and wind that prompted NASA to arrange an emergency landing at Edwards Air Force Base around 1:35 P.M. where weather was not an issue. However, weather conditions permitedd the shuttle to land at Kennedy Space Center. Many spectators gathered for this event too. As Discovery touched ground for the first time in nine days, an uproar of applause escaped from the crowd assembled there. John Herschell Glenn, Jr. had now successfully travelled into space twice, setting a record each time. John Glenn is a pioneer to space travel and will be remembered as an American hero. Check out these links: www.johnglenn.com (this has links to other JG sites.) www.angelfire.com/ga/Thomasville |
 ladybug_1234@hotmail.com |
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