[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E216-E217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ZERO G AND I FEEL FINE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TIM RYAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far 
away, a world watched as a lone American sat inside a small capsule on 
top of an Atlas rocket waiting for blast off. Fifty years ago, after 
several disappointing and discouraging postponements, all systems were 
``GO'' at Cape Canaveral's launch pad 14, the weather clear, and the 
countdown pounded as the voice of Astronaut Scott Carpenter at Mission 
Control wished--``Godspeed John Glenn.''
  Friendship 7 lifted off with 360,000 pounds of thrust on its mission 
to put a man into Earth orbit, observe his reactions in space and 
safely return to Earth. It was the third Project Mercury manned mission 
and the first orbital flight. People around the world stopped and held 
their breath. Glenn felt six times the force of gravity on lift off and 
then once in space, we heard his voice crackling over the radio, 
``Zero-g and I feel fine.'' ``Capsule is turning around. Oh! That view 
is tremendous!'' The space race had begun in 1957 with Sputnik, the 
sinister Soviet satellite that propelled America into the new space 
age. Caught from behind, the U.S. scrambled to catch up. The first 
federal college loans were established under the National Defense 
Education Act of 1958 and federal support for basic research and 
development and the space program dramatically increased.
  NASA was reorganized from the National Advisory Committee for 
Aeronautics (NACA) in 1958 and began the manned space program. In 1959, 
NASA selected 7 military test pilots to fly in space with Project 
Mercury. In 1961, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to 
orbit the Earth. America was on a mission. The Nation focused in a 
united cause, identified the challenge, built and organized a plan for 
that challenge, and rose to meet it. We pulled together. A collection 
of scientists, soldiers, and contractors, with tremendous public 
support welded together a national program without an established 
infrastructure that would later become the Kennedy Space Center and the 
Johnson Space Center. Flight tests

[[Page E217]]

and training occurred at Langley, Virginia, the space capsule was built 
by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, rocket development at Huntsville, 
Alabama, medical examinations at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, 
New Mexico, and Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, the 
Altas rocket was built by General Dynamics in San Diego, and rocket 
launches occurred at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  Tom Wolfe described the astronauts in ``The Right Stuff'' as if they 
were single combat warriors, our best against their best and they were 
worshiped as heroes even before the battle for they were sure to die. 
With a successful splashdown off Gran Turk Island, John Glenn in 
Friendship 7 had reached speeds of over 18,000 miles an hour, and in 4 
hours 55 minutes and 23 seconds became the first American to orbit the 
Earth and rocketed the Nation back into the space race and took a vital 
step on man's journey to the moon. The Post Office issued the first 
stamp depicting a manned spacecraft. Sales of Tang, the orange flavored 
powdered soft drink, went through the roof when advertised as first 
used by Astronaut John Glenn. The number one song was ``Duke of Earl'' 
by Gene Chandler--West Side Story was playing in theaters. A television 
situation comedy, ``I Dream of Jeannie'' with Barbara Eden and 
Astronaut Larry Hagman was soon on the air.
  John Glenn's incomparable life of service began as a Marine Corps 
fighter pilot flying the F4U Corsair in the South Pacific in World War 
II and the F9F Panther and F 86 Sabrejet in Korea. In 1957, as part of 
Project Bullet, he made the first supersonic transcontinental flight 
from California to New York in an F8U Crusader. In 1974 he became a 
U.S. Senator from Ohio and served for 24 years. In 1997, John Glenn 
announced his retirement from the Senate stating that there was no cure 
for the common birthday. Nonetheless, in 1998, he returned to space 
aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery STS 95 at age 77 to study the 
effects of space flight on seniors. He worked to establish the John 
Glenn School of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University and he 
served as Chairman of the National Commission on Math and Science 
Teaching for the 21st Century. Recently, he and Astronauts Neil 
Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were awarded the 
Congressional Gold Medal.
  Project Mercury, followed by Projects Gemini and Apollo, were the 
stepping stones to extraordinary and monumental accomplishment. America 
began a new age that day 50 years ago and we were all together. John 
Glenn, a hero in war, a hero in peace, remains an American hero and 
legend in our hearts. Once upon a time he helped unify a Nation and led 
us into the future. Congratulations to John and Annie Glenn.

                          ____________________