John Glenn (1921 - 2016)

[12oh2alarm]

I just read John Glenn passed away at the age of 95.  May the soul of this courageous man, the first American to orbit the Earth, rest in peace!

[Glom]

Just saw it too. That's the big four gone now. Shepard, Glenn, White and Armstrong.

[bknight]

Just saw it too. That's the big four gone now. Shepard, Glenn, White and Armstrong.

Uumm you did miss a few.
RIP John Glenn.

[Morgul]

And then there were none....

John was the last of the Mercury 7.

[Peter B]

Just saw it too. That's the big four gone now. Shepard, Glenn, White and Armstrong.

Uumm you did miss a few.
RIP John Glenn.

Agreed. Any list of great astronauts is going to be subjective - why not Grissom and Lovell, for example?

But yes, Glenn deserves to be up there among the greats, and his death separates us just a little more from those pioneering days of space travel.

[Glom]

Just saw it too. That's the big four gone now. Shepard, Glenn, White and Armstrong.

Uumm you did miss a few.
RIP John Glenn.

First American in space, first American in orbit, first American to leave his spacecraft, first person to walk in the Moon.

It's a somewhat subjective list of high profile landmark events that can be given to a single person, I admit.

[Bryanpoprobson]

God speed, John Glenn.

[BertieSlack]

Agreed. Any list of great astronauts is going to be subjective - why not Grissom and Lovell, for example?

John Watts Young - flew the first Gemini mission with Grissom, command pilot of Gemini 10, first person to fly solo around the Moon on Apollo 10, commanded Apollo 16, commanded the first Shuttle mission (IIRC the only time that a new vehicle has flown with no unmanned test launches) and commanded another Shuttle mission (can't remember which one. STS-9 maybe?)

Chuck Yeager had originally derided the Mercury astronauts as 'spam in a can' but he soon changed his opinion. RIP John Glenn.

[mako88sb]

Sad news. I was talking about him with my daughter just a few days ago explaining how publicly popular he was compared to Alan Shepard. It's been awhile since I've watched "The Right Stuff" so going to plug it in tonight.

[Glom]

Chuck Yeager had originally derided the Mercury astronauts as 'spam in a can' but he soon changed his opinion.

Chuck Yeager derides lots of people. You're not someone until he's said something mean about you.

[bknight]

Agreed. Any list of great astronauts is going to be subjective - why not Grissom and Lovell, for example?

John Watts Young - flew the first Gemini mission with Grissom, command pilot of Gemini 10, first person to fly solo around the Moon on Apollo 10, commanded Apollo 16, commanded the first Shuttle mission (IIRC the only time that a new vehicle has flown with no unmanned test launches) and commanded another Shuttle mission (can't remember which one. STS-9 maybe?)

Chuck Yeager had originally derided the Mercury astronauts as 'spam in a can' but he soon changed his opinion. RIP John Glenn.

Isn't he the first to do a jump salute on the Moon?