Mercury 7 Astronauts Glenn, Carpenter Wow Crowd

by ANN Correspondent Aleta Vinas

Things were a bit more than 'business as usual' this past weekend at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. KSC played host for the World Space Expo, a combined celebration of 50 years in space, the 60th anniversary of the Air Force and NASA's almost 50th anniversary (October 1, 1958).

Pavilions were set up in the Rocket Garden showcasing the new era of commercial space travel with exhibitors such as SpaceX, the X-Prize Foundation, The Coalition for Space Exploration and others.

An Aerial Salute to 50 Years in Space highlighted Saturday and Sunday with performances by The Army Golden Knights parachute Team, though high winds on Saturday cut the team to one lone courageous jumper, US Air Force 920th Rescue Wing (with ANN's Jim Campbell and Alex Manning literally sitting on the back ramp, feet hanging in the 'breeze', of the HC-130 as it flew over the Cape and then tanked up two USAF Pavehawks...what a view!), the wing responsible for Mercury and Gemini capsule recovery, the F-15 Eagle, F-18 Super Hornet, The US Air Force Thunderbirds and the F-22 Raptor. A Heritage flight included the F22, F15 and a P-51 Mustang to end the air show.

Several talks were scheduled throughout the weekend with Thunderbird pilots, Shuttle astronauts, speakers from the commercial space world and Brigadier General Susan Helms, former shuttle astronaut and current Commander, 45th Space Wing, and Director, Eastern Range, Patrick Air Force Base scheduled to speak. There was one panel scheduled that no one wanted to miss with Mercury astronauts Scott Carpenter and John Glenn.

Scott Carpenter was selected as one of the Mercury 7 in 1959. He flew Mercury/Atlas 7 on May 24, 1962 and orbited the Earth 3 times in his capsule Aurora 7. He was back-up for Glenn's Mercury/Atlas 6 flight.

John Glenn was also one of the Mercury 7. Glenn flew the 1st manned orbital flight in Mercury/Atlas 6. He orbited the Earth 3 times on February 20, 1962 in Friendship 7. Glenn flew again on the space shuttle mission STS-95 on October 29 - November 7, 1998.

Both men spoke a little about their space experiences and the atmosphere at this time.

According to Glenn, "Sputnik galvanized this whole country." The Cold War was on and Russia was not only claiming but proving their technical superiority by launching boosters -- while "ours, too often, were blowing up on the launch pad," he said.

Glenn applauded President Eisenhower's decision to allow the US Space program to be completely open for the world to share. That openness continues through this day, Glenn added, though does hope for "a resurgence of emphasis on research."

Carpenter admits that the competition with Russia drove us. He sees competition as a positive and feels that we need competition again, partially to increase public interest once more. Carpenter notes "China lurks. We can use that competition, it will stir us onward."

Before deferring to some audience questions, Glenn mentioned that he and Carpenter were the last two left of the seven. He teased about always lining up in alphabetical order to which Carpenter replied "And I love that because I come first." On a serious note Glenn said "I'm very mindful of all the contributions that these people made and wish that they could be with us today."

The first question was regarding 'Fireflies.' Glenn gave a report on seeing bright objects outside his window -- a window the astronauts fought to have put in, by the way -- and called these moisture particles "fireflies". NASA psychiatrist Dr. George Ruff said to Glenn "What did they say, John?"

The next question was what their greatest achievement was. The answers were simple and to the point; Carpenter said "Space flight." Glenn said "marrying Annie" at which point thunderous applause broke out of the crowd.

Glenn was asked to compare his Mercury flight and shuttle flight. "Back in those days," started Glenn, "we were just trying to get a flight off to make sure we could do these things."

Everything about space flight was an unknown at that point; ophthalmologists worried about deteriorating vision. To that end, if you visit the National Air and Space Museum you can see an eye chart on top of Friendship 7's instrument panel. Glenn was to read it every 20 minutes to be sure his vision was unimpaired. Doctors worried about the fluid in the inner ear moving around more perhaps causing vertigo or nausea.

Glenn's shuttle flight was about basic fundamental research -- plus there was more "space" on the shuttle. Glenn also mentioned the danger, saying "the attitude toward the danger perhaps has changed a lot. Ask Annie, the first flight she lost 12 pounds the second flight she gained 12 pounds."

Carpenter teased Glenn about his shuttle flight, "John was interested in investigating the difference in the response to his older body to zero G stresses and compare it with his response to the Mercury flight. I told him that when I'd heard he'd been selected for this, that I'd be happy to be his stand-by again but NASA probably wouldn't approve that because I wasn't old enough."

Glenn acknowledged he would like to see more 75–80 year old adventurers going up on shuttle flights for study, as the database right now is limited. "N=1" says Glenn, "and I'm the one."

The two astronauts were asked when they said "what the heck am I doing here?" Carpenter recognized he'd ask himself that question when he was fatigued. Once he'd had some sleep, Carpenter was back on track.

Glenn believes all the men asked themselves that very question, since space flight was so new and untried. There were thoughts of possibly losing people. "You had doubts but it was important for the country and we went ahead and did it and that was that."

When asked their opinion of the Atlas rocket, Glenn recounts their first experience. Each astronaut had a specialty area and Deke Slayton followed the Atlas. During the first two dozen or so launches there was a 45% failure rate. The Atlas has no frame; it was a "steel balloon", pressure had to be maintained within it to keep it standing up straight. The seven astronauts were brought down for a night Atlas launch, their first time seeing the rocket. It blew up at about 27,000 feet. There was an immediate meeting with the engineers the next day.

The problem was, of course, fixed -- and Carpenter points out "100% success in manned flight, four launches, four successes."

The inevitable question about "The Right Stuff" came up. Glenn was less than complimentary to the movie, while Carpenter felt the important details covered by Wolfe were accurately portrayed. The movie, Carpenter felt, was more of a docudrama than documentary.

Both men do agree on the excellence of "Apollo 13." Says Glenn "Apollo 13 is exactly the way it happened."

Glenn's two missions both had their cliff hangers. During the Mercury flight, there was a heat shield issue, and then on the Discovery shuttle flight the door to the parachute compartment fell off during launch.

Glenn was asked how you press on and concentrate on the task at hand. "Train and train and train for everything you can possibly foresee," he said.

Glenn joked at the standard answer given when people ask if they're afraid during launch. "How do you think you'd feel if you knew you were on top of two million parts built by the lowest bidder on a government contract?"

Carpenter acknowledged the accomplishments that were being observed over the weekend. "We celebrate marvelous achievements, I hear a voice underneath that celebration, soft and prophetic saying ‘wait, cause you ain't seen nothing yet'."

FMI: www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html