[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S690-S692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING JOHN HERSCHEL GLENN, JR.

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate proceed to S. Res. 377, submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 377) recognizing the 50th anniversary 
     of the historic achievement of John Herschel Glenn, Jr., in 
     becoming the first United States astronaut to orbit the 
     Earth.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, 
and that any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 377) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 377

       Whereas John Herschel Glenn, Jr. was born on July 18, 1921, 
     in Cambridge, Ohio to parents John and Clara Glenn;
       Whereas John Glenn grew up in New Concord, Ohio with his 
     childhood sweetheart and future wife, Annie Castor, 150 miles 
     east of Dayton, Ohio, the birthplace of the Wright brothers, 
     who first took humankind into flight;
       Whereas John Glenn enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet 
     program shortly after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl 
     Harbor, Hawaii, and was commissioned as an officer in the 
     United States Marine Corps in 1943;
       Whereas John Glenn received many honors for his military 
     service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross on 6 
     occasions, the Air Medal with 18 Clusters, the Asiatic-
     Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the 
     World War II Victory Medal, the China Service Medal, the 
     National Defense Service Medal, and the Korean Service Medal;
       Whereas, with the onset of the Cold War, the United States 
     and the free world feared the intentions of the Soviet Union 
     in space;
       Whereas President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked the National 
     Aeronautics and Space Administration (referred to in this 
     preamble as ``NASA'') to find the most talented, patriotic, 
     and selfless test pilots to participate in Project Mercury, 
     the first human spaceflight program in the United States;
       Whereas John Glenn and fellow candidates for NASA's 
     Astronaut Corps underwent pressure suit, acceleration, 
     vibration, heat, loud noise, psychiatric, personality, 
     motivation, and aptitude tests at the Aeromedical Laboratory 
     at the Wright Air Development Center in Dayton, Ohio;
       Whereas John Glenn, Malcolm S. Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, 
     Jr., Virgil I. ``Gus'' Grissom, Walter M. Shirra, Jr., Alan 
     B. Shepard, Jr., and Donald K. Slayton were selected from 
     among hundreds of other patriotic candidates to be named the 
     original ``Mercury Seven'' astronauts;
       Whereas Project Mercury was charged with the unprecedented 
     responsibility of competing with the strides that the Soviet 
     Union was making in space exploration;
       Whereas the United States public viewed John Glenn and the 
     Mercury Seven astronauts as men on the front line of the war 
     not only for space supremacy but also, in many minds, for the 
     survival of the United States;
       Whereas John Glenn accurately captured the significance of 
     the time when he later wrote that ``the world was at the door 
     of a new age, and we were the people who had been chosen to 
     take the first steps across the threshold'';
       Whereas the Project Mercury astronauts trained for their 
     manned space flight missions in the Multi-Axis Space Training 
     Inertial Facility at NASA's Research Center in Cleveland, 
     Ohio;
       Whereas Alan Shepard was chosen to pilot the first manned 
     Project Mercury mission on Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961, which 
     proved that the United States was capable of successfully 
     launching a person into suborbital flight;
       Whereas Virgil Grissom was chosen to pilot the second 
     manned Project Mercury mission on Liberty Bell 7 and became 
     the second United States astronaut to achieve suborbital 
     flight on July 21, 1961;
       Whereas the Soviet Union had successfully launched the 
     spacecrafts Lunar 2 and Lunar 3 in 1959 before successfully 
     launching and returning to Earth Major Yuri Gagarin, who 
     completed a 108-minute single orbit around the Earth in 1961;
       Whereas John Glenn was selected from among the Project 
     Mercury astronauts to command the first United States capsule 
     to orbit the Earth;
       Whereas John Glenn, with the help of his children Dave and 
     Lyn, named the first United States space capsule to orbit the 
     Earth  Friendship 7, re-emphasizing the peaceful intentions 
     of the United States space exploration program;
       Whereas John Glenn trained vigorously, working through 70 
     simulated missions and reacting to nearly 200 simulated 
     system failures, to prepare to orbit the Earth and 
     successfully complete the first manned orbital mission for 
     the United States;
       Whereas the work that John Glenn conducted on the cockpit 
     layout, instrument panel design, and spacecraft controls in 
     the Mercury spacecraft enhanced the design of Friendship 7 
     and the ability of an astronaut to control Friendship 7, 
     which proved useful during the mission;
       Whereas, at 9:47 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 20, 
     1962, the Atlas 109D rocket boosters ignited and John Glenn 
     and Friendship 7 commenced liftoff at NASA's Space Center in 
     Cape Canaveral, Florida;
       Whereas John Glenn, aboard Friendship 7, became the first 
     United States astronaut to orbit the Earth, orbiting 3 times 
     and observing 3 sunrises, 3 sunsets, and the wonder of the 
     universe in only 4 hours and 56 minutes;
       Whereas, when John Glenn learned that the heat shield on 
     Friendship 7 had possibly become loose in orbit, compromising 
     the successful completion of the space mission, Glenn bravely 
     managed the reentry procedures and proved that a person can 
     safely and successfully complete a NASA mission;
       Whereas John Glenn successfully completed reentry into 
     Earth, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean at 2:43 p.m. 
     Eastern Standard Time, east of Grand Turk Island at 21 
     degrees, 25 minutes North latitude and 68 degrees, 36 minutes 
     West longitude, and was recovered by the USS Noa;
       Whereas, in the context of the Cold War, the success of the 
     Friendship 7 flight restored the standing of the United 
     States as the leading country in the race to space against 
     the Soviet Union;
       Whereas the completion of the inaugural orbit of the Earth 
     by John Glenn validated

[[Page S691]]

     NASA's manned space flight mission and secured the future 
     missions of NASA's manned space capsules;
       Whereas the people of the United States heralded John Glenn 
     as the personification of heroism and dignity in an age of 
     uncertainty and fear;
       Whereas the press later described John Glenn as a man who 
     embodied the noblest human qualities;
       Whereas President John F. Kennedy echoed the belief held by 
     John Glenn that the United States space program was not just 
     a scientific journey but also a source of inspiration and 
     pride, saying, ``our leadership in science and industry, our 
     hopes for peace and security . . . require us to solve these 
     mysteries and to solve them for the good of all men'';
       Whereas John Glenn is a patriot and space pioneer who 
     encouraged the people of the United States to rightfully view 
     NASA as an embodiment of the persistent quest of the people 
     of the United States to expand their knowledge and explore 
     frontiers;
       Whereas, in retirement, John and Annie Glenn continued 
     their public service by establishing the John Glenn School of 
     Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, living up to the 
     words of John Glenn, who said, ``If there is one thing I've 
     learned in my years on this planet, it's that the happiest 
     and most fulfilled people I've known are those who devoted 
     themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely 
     their own self-interest.''; and
       Whereas, although 50 years have passed, the historic orbit 
     of John Glenn around the Earth aboard Friendship 7 remains a 
     source of pride and honor for the people of the United 
     States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the 50th anniversary of the landmark mission of 
     John Herschel Glenn, Jr., in piloting the first manned 
     orbital mission for the United States;
       (2) recognizes the profound importance of the achievement 
     of John Glenn as a catalyst for space exploration and 
     scientific advancement in the United States; and
       (3) honors the thousands of dedicated men and women of the 
     National Aeronautics and Space Administration who worked on 
     Project Mercury and ensured the success of the Friendship 7 
     Mercury mission.

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Portman and 
myself, I am proud to have submitted this bipartisan resolution--joined 
by 18 Senators, 10 of whom served with John Glenn in the Senate.
  Fifty-years ago next week, on the morning of February 20, 1962, John 
Herschel Glenn, Jr. of Ohio became the first American to orbit the 
Earth.
  I was 9 years old. Like other families around Ohio, I watched him on 
television at home in Mansfield with my parents and two brothers.
  The broadcast also showed John Glenn, Sr. and Clara Glenn, John's 
parents, watching anxiously.
  Across the country, others were listening on transistor radios. In 
New York City, the subway system broadcast the liftoff and flight 
progress over loud speakers.
  In Grand Central Station, CBS News set up a large 12 foot by 16 foot 
screen over the main ticket window--by the time of lift-off 10,000 
people had packed the terminal.
  Like millions of Americans, they watched Walter Cronkite set the 
scene. Our Nation was in the midst of the Cold War--worried about 
Russian nuclear aggression, worried about the race into space.
  Cronkite would later say that:

       It was a time when the intricacies of science were 
     complicated by deep American doubts and anxieties over where 
     we stood in the race with Russian science.
       With the arms race in a dead heat, space had become the 
     scoreboard of Cold War competition.

  That's why a few years earlier, President Eisenhower launched Project 
Mercury as the first human spaceflight program in the United States--to 
put our country on the playing field.
  Hundreds of our Nation's bravest and patriotic aviators signed up--
only seven were selected as the original Mercury 7: John Glenn, Jr. of 
Ohio; M. Scott Carpenter of Colorado; L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. of 
Oklahoma; Virgil I. ``Gus'' Grissom of Indiana; Walter M. Schirra, Jr. 
of New Jersey; Alan B. Shepard, Jr. of New Hampshire; and Donald K. 
``Deke'' Slayton of Wisconsin.
  Glenn later wrote of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, ``The world 
was at the door of a new age, and we were the people who had been 
chosen to take the first steps across the threshold.''
  And when President Kennedy took office, he continued our Nation's 
pursuit into space--and race against the Russians.
  He said, ``Our leadership in science and industry, our hopes for 
peace and security . . . require us to solve these mysteries and to 
solve them for the good of all men.''
  Alan Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 in May 1961 and Gus Grissom 
piloted Liberty Bell 7 in July 1961 to prove that Americans could 
launch humans into suborbital flight.
  But then the Russians successfully launched Yuri Gagarin into orbit 
around the Earth.
  America's response was left to a decorated Marine aviator born in 
Cambridge, Ohio who grew up a few miles away in New Concord.
  On the morning of February 20, 1962, the eyes of the world were on 
John Glenn, who was tasked with piloting our space program's most 
dangerous flight at the time.
  He would command Friendship 7--named by Glenn and his children, Dave 
and Lyn, to emphasize our Nation's intentions in space.
  But over weeks and months, his mission was scrubbed ten times.
  The reasons were varied--from inclement weather to technical 
problems. Tensions remained high throughout.
  Any miscues or failure would undermine national security--along with 
national pride and the country's psyche.
  Finally, at 9:47 a.m. on February 20, 1962, with 70 degree Fahrenheit 
weather at NASA's Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Friendship 7 
was blasted off into space.
  As the rocket ascended, people cheered. Others cried and prayed--the 
hopes of an entire nation rested on the shoulders of a single man in a 
space capsule hurling into an unknown place.
  Everything was going as planned--from launch to orbital entry--and 
once successfully in space, John Glenn became the first American to 
orbit the Earth.
  He would observe three sunrises, three sunsets, and the wonder of the 
universe in 4 hours and 56 minutes.
  But during the flight, problems occurred. The spacecraft's automatic 
control system malfunctioned, causing Glenn to manually control the 
capsule.
  And he was prepared to do so--benefitting from NASA's vigorous 
training that included 70 simulated missions and malfunction response 
training for nearly 200 simulated system failures.
  His model of calmness, which I have seen many times over the years in 
all kinds of situations, would become standard operating procedure for 
future NASA manned space missions.
  And despite having to deal with the malfunctions, Glenn still carried 
out critical parts of the mission.
  He took photographs of the Earth, observed weather on the Earth's 
surface, and gave constant feedback to flight controllers about his 
physical responses to the zero-gravity environment.
  But earlier in the flight, Glenn saw an indicator light that 
Friendship 7's heat shield had loosened--threatening his re-entry into 
Earth.
  With its world-class scientists and engineers leading the way--and 
confident in its flight planning--NASA decided to keep the retrorocket 
pack attached to secure the heat shield.
  As planned, Friendship 7 re-entered the Earth's atmosphere--with 
Glenn describing the ``fire-ball'' re-entry as one of the most 
exhilarating parts of the flight.
  It is the streak of light that people on Earth could see in the sky.
  And in descent, the capsule successfully parachuted and splashed down 
in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Grand Turk Island, at 2:43 p.m., 
Eastern Standard Time. The USS Noa retrieved Friendship 7 and brought 
Glenn aboard--validating our Nation's pursuit of discovery and ensuring 
its place in the space race against the Russians. And just as 
important--the flight of Friendship 7 and the courage of John Glenn 
inspired generations of new scientists, engineers, and aviators. It 
launched a new era of science, aerospace, and defense industries, and 
it showed that our advancements in science--in exploring the unknown--
are not only a national security imperative, they are an economic 
imperative, too--reaffirming that we have what it takes to out-compete 
and out-innovate any nation in the world.
  After his flight, Glenn received a hero's welcome--decorated with 
awards and accolades--and honored in ticker-tape parades and magazine 
profiles. Throughout it all, he remained humbled by his patriotism and 
his small

[[Page S692]]

town Ohio roots--as a son whose father was a plumber, and whose mother 
was a schoolteacher. And he remained grounded by his love for his wife, 
his childhood sweetheart, Annie.
  Much has been written about John and Annie. Both are just as in love 
with each other now in their 90s as they were as children when they 
met--as John says, in a playpen in New Concord.
  He says of Annie, ``that she was part of my life from the time of my 
first memory.''
  It is fitting that in celebrating the 50th anniversary of John 
Glenn's historic orbit of Earth, we honor his family--Annie and their 
children, Dave and Lyn who gave public blessing and private prayers and 
support during his service to our Nation.
  I was fortunate to sit with Lyn and Dave and Annie in the Rotunda 
when John Glenn, with three other astronauts, received the 
Congressional Gold Medal for his flight aboard Friendship 7.
  We also honor the thousands of dedicated and patriotic men and women 
of NASA's Project Mercury Program.
  It took a huge team of people as dedicated as John Glenn, and perhaps 
as courageous, who ensured the safety and security of their astronauts 
and preserved the pride of a grateful Nation. John will be in Florida 
on this weekend to meet with those who were part of that operation--the 
engineers, the scientists, the technicians--thanking them again for 
sending him up and bringing him down safely. Their service has inspired 
generations of future NASA technicians and mission control 
specialists--from Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, to NASA Glenn in 
Cleveland, to NASA centers around the country.
  At one of the first press conferences of the Mercury 7 astronauts, 
Glenn said:

       This whole project . . . stands with us now like the Wright 
     Brothers--Ohioans also--stood at Kitty Hawk . . . I think we 
     stand on the verge of something as big and expansive as that 
     was 50 years ago.

  It is that spirit of discovery, that conviction, duty, and faith that 
John Glenn embodies and that his flight aboard Friendship 7 symbolizes. 
It is my honor to submit this bipartisan resolution celebrating such an 
important national and scientific achievement.
  It is also my honor to be accompanied on the floor today by Nicole 
Smith, who is a fellow from NASA Glenn, an aeronautical engineer, who 
has done things as varied as having trained cosmonauts to the work she 
has done in our office, guiding the success of NASA Glenn, one of the 
best NASA centers in the country.
  I am also joined on the floor by Laura Lynch, who has been with my 
office for 3 years--a Clevelander--who is actually leaving our office 
for bigger and better things in a couple of weeks. She has been part of 
this too.
  In my last personal moment with this resolution, I remember 40-some 
years ago--44 years ago, I believe--when John Glenn was not Senator 
Glenn but still Colonel Glenn. I received my Eagle Scout award in 
Mansfield earlier in the year, and COL John Glenn came to a dinner with 
a number of other Eagle Scouts in Mansfield. I have a picture in my 
office in the Senate Hart Building of me standing there in my Boy Scout 
uniform with my Eagle Scout pin with John Glenn, and next to that is a 
picture of John Glenn and me some 38 years later before he walked me 
down the center aisle to be sworn in to the Senate with the Senator 
from Rhode Island in January of 2007.

  John Glenn is special to our Nation. He is special to my wife Connie 
and me because of our love for John and Annie and our respect for Dave 
and Lyn, their children. He has honored our country in so many ways, it 
is my honor to submit this resolution and I thank my colleagues.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________