Second Time Proves to Be a Charm as Glenn Makes a Smooth Landing
Sen. John Glenn glided back to Earth aboard the shuttle Discovery on Saturday, ending a 3.6-million-mile journey that returned a pioneer astronaut to space and America’s space program to glory.
“Welcome home Discovery and a crew of seven heroes . . . . Beautiful landing,” said Mission Control as the shuttle touched down at Kennedy Space Center, ending one of the most celebrated U.S. space adventures since Glenn became the first American in orbit 36 years ago.
And Glenn, at 77 the oldest man ever to fly in space, apparently could hardly wait to report on how good he felt. “I want to reprise a statement I made a long, long time ago,” Glenn said, echoing his 1962 blast-off exclamation (“Zero-g and I feel fine”), which was broadcast to a crowd of several hundred people, including his relatives, NASA officials and news reporters, who had gathered alongside the runway.
“Except this time it is: One-g and I feel fine.”
Two hours after the landing, however, as all the astronauts made a traditional walk-around inspection of the shuttle, Glenn moved stiffly and even seemed to shuffle.
Preliminary reports from NASA doctors indicate that Glenn is in good health after making 135 laps of the globe and taking part in several experiments designed to compare the effects of microgravity with the aging process.
A scheduled news conference after four hours of medical tests and debriefing was postponed until today at the recommendation of chief crew surgeon Philip Stepaniak.
In a statement, Stepaniak said that all crew members were doing better than expected. He noted that the astronauts were able to walk off the orbiter at a normal pace and showed “no significant or out-of-the-ordinary medical problems.”
In a 15-minute meeting with his wife, Annie, his two children and two grandchildren, Glenn was animated and in high spirits, the doctor said.
In addition to Glenn, the crew of the Discovery included Americans Curtis L. Brown, Steven W. Lindsey, Stephen K. Robinson and Scott E. Parazynski; Spaniard Pedro Duque; and Chiaki Mukai, a Japanese surgeon. The mission was the 92nd space shuttle flight since the program began in 1981.
The landing at 9:03 a.m. PST was on time and without incident, despite NASA’s concerns that strong crosswinds could force the shuttle to be diverted to Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Officials also fretted about the possible complications of a drag chute that was left uncovered for the entire journey after an aluminum plate fell off during the Oct. 29 launch. The drag chute was not deployed and not needed.
Glenn’s smooth return to Earth aboard Discovery also provided a dramatic contrast to his first reentry from space in 1962, when the bell-shaped Friendship 7 dropped into the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos Islands, where he had to be fished from the sea by a ship-based helicopter. That three-orbit flight lasted less than five hours.
This time, Brown, an Air Force officer and mission commander, piloted the shuttle to a perfect touchdown after a rapid descent that began over Baja California and took the orbiter streaking over the U.S.-Mexico border and across Central Texas and the Gulf of Mexico before it first appeared as a silvery glint in the sunny central Florida sky.
The shuttle’s approach was announced by bang-bang sonic booms, and minutes later the vehicle dropped down for a landing at 225 mph. In orbit, the Discovery reached speeds up to 17,500 mph.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin embraced the legendary test pilot and original Mercury astronaut on the runway and said: “You are a true American hero. You got back in that shuttle because you believed that you could improve life on Earth . . .
“You did everything you promised me you’d do. God bless you, John Glenn.”
The astronauts are to return today to Houston’s Johnson Space Center, where Glenn will undergo several more weeks of tests to complete experiments he began while in orbit. Glenn, who is retiring from the Senate in January after 24 years, talked his way back into space by volunteering for studies involving bone and muscle loss, balance disorders, sleep disturbances and changes in blood and the immune system.
But Glenn’s chief contribution may have been to reignite interest in NASA’s agenda, which next includes construction of a $60-billion orbiting space laboratory in partnership with 12 other nations. The shuttle Endeavour will haul one of the first building blocks into orbit in a Dec. 3 launch.
In a news conference, Goldin said he hopes Glenn’s presence on the mission inspired young people to explore careers in math and science and discover “heroes that are not necessarily rock stars or sports heroes.”
He denied the suggestion by some observers that Glenn’s flight was more publicity stunt than science. “We at NASA are not interested in attention simply so we can get more money. We are not going to just send celebrities to space.”
Goldin also chided the press for largely ignoring the recent shuttle flights, which are now so frequent and uneventful they have become routine. “I remind you, don’t wait until Glenn’s third launch to see things we’re going to do.”
But if Annie Glenn, the astronaut’s wife of 55 years, has her way, there will be no third flight. After he is dismissed from further medical tests, sometime around Thanksgiving, she said the journey she has planned for her husband is “taking at least five days alone in our car as Mr. and Mrs. John Glenn.”
