[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S703-S704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Nelson of Florida, 
Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Hutchison, 
Mr. Pryor, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reid of Nevada, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Levin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              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 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

[[Page S704]]

     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.

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