Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.246.87] on Friday, December 09, 2016 at 02:56:25 :
In Reply to: John Glenn has died. posted by FrankUSMC [108.162.237.87] on Thursday, December 08, 2016 at 15:42:59 :
A lot of people still seem to think that being the first astronaut was just about the same as being the first dog in space or the first monkey in space: They strap him in, hit the "go" button and off he goes, flying through space in a big tin can until he comes back to Earth and splashes down in the ocean. What they forget is that, in John Glenn's case at least, a monkey or a dog would have died. The automatic control system failed and he had to stabilize and "fly" the capsule manually -- and it wasn't like he'd practiced 100 times on the simulator. They also thought the heat shield might have come loose and he would burn up on the way down. He knew that, and when he saw pieces of burning metal flying past the window, it seemed pretty likely. But he kept his cool, the capsule held together, and he got to live to a ripe old age.
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