John Glenn (1921-2016)

John Glenn-the first astronaut from the United States who managed to orbit the Earth in 1962, the United States senator, and the world's oldest astronaut-died on December 8, 2016, in the city of Columbus, Ohio state in the United States, announced Ohio State University (Ohio State University). Not explained the cause of death, but in 2014 he had a stroke after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery.

Perhaps in Indonesia, only space history enthusiasts know who it is John Glenn, but in the United States, John Glenn is considered a hero. In the 60s, when the people of the United States felt left behind from the Soviet Union in the sphere of space technology, the figure of John Glenn presents new hope.

John Glenn began his career in the United States Marine Corps as a fighter pilot. A few days after Pearl Harbor's attack on December 7, 1941, he enlisted as a naval cadet and later joined marines after passing pilot training. During World War II, at the Pacific Theater, he flew in 59 combat missions and won numerous awards. In the Korean War, more missions missed John Glenn's mission, which was 90 missions.

John Glenn's life direction became an astronaut starting from his service as a test pilot. The completion of World War II paved the way for researching and developing the next generation of jet-engined fighter aircraft (the World War II fighter aircraft was still propelled in. In 1944, Germany had succeeded in developing the first jet fighter aircraft, but the aircraft was not involved in many combat missions and late entry into the war to be able to change the course of the war), and pilot pilots are needed to fly prototype jet planes.

The jet technology at the time was still in the experimental stage and not yet established. The prototype of a jet plane can explode at any time and therefore pilot testing at this time requires immense guts. Death is a natural thing. In the 1950s, the decade in which John Glenn became a test pilot, on average every one week there could be one pilot tested to death.

Nevertheless, jet aircraft technology is increasingly established. After 1947, the Bell X-1 aircraft flown by Chuck Yeager managed to fly at speeds exceeding the speed of sound (about 1200 km / h), jet technology increasingly perfected. In 1957, using the F8U-1 Crusader plane, John Glenn broke the speed record by flying from California to New York within 3.5 hours.

^{A chart showing Group 1/Mercury 7 assignments in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo,wikipedia}

With the mastery of atomic technology and jet technology, the mastery of space is the next target. By that time, in the 1950s, the Soviet Union as one of the winners of World War II had emerged as a new superpower and was ambitious to show its superiority over the old superpowers. In the International Geophysical Year, October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched its first artificial satellite, Sputnik. To be honest Sputnik has no function other than to emit a routine signal that anyone can catch on Earth (of course by radio and listening at the right frequency), in the countries through which it is orbited, but this is sufficient as a Soviet propaganda tool and collapsed the heart of anyone who hears that simple signal. Even at certain times, the satellite can be seen with the naked eye when the sun's light is reflected by Sputnik. Americans are worried about this development and feel that they are intellectually left behind from the Soviet Union, although the deepest circle of US government at that time was calm because of its own plan regarding space program. The first satellite launched by the United States in 1958, Explorer-I, was technically superior to Sputnik and had instruments capable of detecting cosmic rays. This satellite also confirmed the Van Allen Radiation Belt (ah but if "just" 2nd champion, who the hell cares yes no? Hehehe ...). With the successful launch of this satellite, then manned space missions are the next targets.

To achieve the goal of this manned space flight, the Mercury Project began in 1958. For the start of a manned space project, the Mercury Project goal was simple: Launch humans into space and get back to Earth safely. The official definition of space is 100 km from the Earth's surface (this limit is also called the Kármán Line) and the only way to achieve it is to use rocket propulsion. Since everything is new and we do not yet know what effects that can happen to humans in space and in weightless conditions, it was at that moment quite clear to NASA that the kind of people needed were big brave people willing to risk themselves , but President Eisenhower stressed that such people should be taken from pilot trials of the military service.

John Glenn answered this call and in 1959 was selected along with six other pilots namely Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. Of these seven Mercury astronauts, John Glenn was the last to die.

^{The Mercury Seven. Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra, Deke Slayton, John Glenn, and Scott Carpenter,wikipedia}

The United States media wants to pile up hope on these seven men, therefore they are described as seven compact people. However, as is common in many head meetings, these seven people have their own personalities and internal friction between them often occurs. John Glenn, for example, takes seriously the role of Mercury Seven as NASA's public face, and he thinks that the habits of some of his female counterparts will have a devastating impact on the mission's reputation. Several times John Glenn scolded his comrades, and he was often considered a sanctimonious. Alan Shephard then replies that John Glenn should take care of himself. Fighting often happens because of this business.

The first ambition of the Mercury project in placing humans in space is to fly humans in sub-orbitals, just like a tin throw first: Fly a human to a height of at least 100 km, then back again. John Glenn aims to be the first American to reach this height, but his colleagues agree that Alan Shephard will be the first of them. John Glenn was quite disappointed.

In May 1961, Alan Shephard drove on a sub-orbital flight for 15 minutes and became the first American in space, followed by Gus Grissom in July of the same year. But at that time Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had orbited Earth once (23 days earlier from Alan Shephard), and in August Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov orbited the Earth 17 times. That year it seems that the American space project lags behind the Soviet Union and the future look bleak.

John Glenn's turn to arrive on February 20, 1962. After weeks of delays due to bad weather and tool failure, the Atlas rocket that took John Glenn took off, was watched by 135 million Americans on television and radio. "Godspeed, John Glenn", said pilot Scott Carpenter before the rocket crashed.

"Zero-g and I feel fine," John Glenn says in the control room as the capsule reaches the orbital path. Originally the flight that day will pass seven orbits, but the first orbit of the capsule began to vibrate. John Glenn revokes automatic control and manually controls the capsule in two orbits.

^pixabay

Halfway in flight, the warning light is on and indicates that the heat shield may be loose or loose. If the shield is not there, it is very likely John Glenn will burn when penetrating Earth's atmosphere. As John Glenn enters the atmosphere, the radio contact disappears. Everyone is worried that this mission is failing and the hope of the American space program is dashed.

^pixabay

After four tense minutes, radio contacts reappeared. The warning light is known to not work properly. Capsule John Glenn falls in the Atlantic Ocean after 4 hours 56 fly. John Glenn came out of the capsule with a calm and wide smile triumphantly, arousing hope for the technological capabilities of the United States in the aftermath of the Soviet Union. He was welcomed by President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and a victory parade was held in New York City to celebrate this success, attended by about four million people. People were crying and shouting excitedly, and since then John Glenn became a mythological figure and celebrated as a modern-day hero.

After the success of this orbital flight, John Glenn quit becoming an astronaut. President Kennedy considers John Glenn too valuable as a hero and does not want any accidents to happen. He then resigned from the astronaut corps in 1964 and became an entrepreneur. He later entered the political sphere-at the suggestion of attorney general Robert F. Kennedy in 1962-and in 1974 was elected to the United States Senate from the Democratic Party representing the state of Ohio. John Glenn retained this post for four periods before refusing to re-election in 1998. In 1984 he ran for president of the United States but resigned from the Democratic Party election after losing in several states.

^pixabay

In 1998, it was announced that John Glenn would be one of seven crew to fly on the shuttle mission of Discovery. For two years he has been lobbying for NASA to be included in space missions as guinea pigs in experiments on aging in space. Cynics criticize John Glenn's flight for publicity only to evoke memories of NASA's glorious times (thanks to NASA's budget could be improved), or as a reward for John Glenn's support for President Clinton. People can be nervous, but John Glenn is still in the sky and the launch of Discovery is witnessed by countless people in numbers never seen since the rocket launch to the moon. Present among the launch audience were President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. At the age of 77, John Glenn returned to space and became the oldest astronaut to date.

^{The Mercury Friendship 7 capsule on display in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, just inside the Mall-side doors at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., on 9 December 2016, the day after John Glenn's death. There are flowers on display in recognition of his death.,wikipedia}

The death of John Glenn, as the last surviving Mercury astronaut, closed the hacking round of space exploration. John Glenn leaves his wife, Annie Glenn, two children Carolyn Ann and John David, and two grandchildren, Daniel and Zach. President Obama, in a condolence statement, wrote "John always has the right stuff" (the right stuff, the term introduced by author Tom Wolfe in a book titled together, to describe the characteristics a person must have to become an astronaut], inspires generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond - not just to visit, but also to settle down. "President Obama also instructed the flag to be flown at half-mast.

^{Annie and John Glenn arriving at Schipol, Amsterdam – 1965,wikipedia}

Until now, Indonesia does not yet have a program to bring Indonesian people into space. We have seen how China's space program successfully brought 11 astronauts into space (targeting the construction of the Moonbase), and after the success of India's unmanned missions is ambitious to put the astronauts in space. When can Indonesia have a manned space program? We can see that the space program is a complex project that requires the unification of a country's resources, and its pioneers are big brave people willing to risk themselves. People like Mercury astronauts and John Glenn.

Hopefully, the Mercury project and the figure of John Glenn will inspire us all. Happy eternal rest and Godspeed, John Glenn. Thanks!!!

BEST REGARDS @irza

Reference :

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn
2. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Glenn
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Seven
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury
5. https://www.biography.com/people/john-glenn-9313269
6. https://www.nasa.gov/content/profile-of-john-glenn
7. https://www.space.com/17263-john-glenn-astronaut-biography.html
8. https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_157.html
9. https://www.space.com/25398-nasa-mercury-7-astronauts-first-americans-in-space.html
10. https://phys.org/news/2016-12-american-astronauts-dead.html
11. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/08/who-were-mercury-7/95150894/