Space spirit photography works

Before astronaut john glenn 1962 became the first American to fly around the earth, scientists thought that weightless people might not be able to swallow. They are worried that his eyes will be deformed and his vision will be damaged. Some people worry that weightlessness will make people intoxicated, so astronauts may refuse to return to earth. No one knows what will happen, only a few secret Soviet scientists have put two people into orbit. Less than five hours after Glenn's flight, all these questions and more were answered by a 40-year-old Mercury astronaut. When Glenn took off for the first time, America held its breath. Millions of Americans, from weak veterans of World War I to lively first-year students, followed him on his first flight. The TV station broadcast his reports continuously, including his amazing heartbeat. He was trying something terrible and wonderful, and awe was the command at that time. On that flight, he took an Ansco automatic setting camera, which he bought at Cocoa Beach pharmacy. An engineer from NASA hacked into the camera so that he could use it with astronaut's gloves on. He could use a handle with buttons to push the film and control the shutter. With it, Glenn was the first person to take a color photo of the earth in space travel. This 35mm camera has been collected by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, as well as other cultural relics from Mercury Friendship 7 and Glen's three-orbit mission.

After he came back, fans crowded the streets of Washington, D.C. and new york City to watch the program. The joint session of the two houses of Congress all stood up and applauded him. President John F. Kennedy noticed Americans' love for this famous astronaut. He quietly told NASA officials that Glenn's life was too precious to risk another flight. Without a chance to fly, Glenn left NASA on 1964 and entered the commercial and political fields.

Twenty years ago this month, 36 years later, US Senator john glenn put on his spacesuit again and flew into orbit. As before, 1998 101On October 29th, when the 77-year-old grandfather took the space shuttle Discovery, Americans were attracted by this adventure. As before, he brought a camera.

During several months of training, Glen enjoyed the photography class very much, especially after a geologist and geographer told the astronauts what kind of images they wanted to see. He cherishes the opportunity to see the earth and likes to use Nikon digital cameras. The fashionable (then) most advanced models used by other crew members are easy to operate with interchangeable lenses. The museum also houses the space shuttle Discovery and a series of other cultural relics called STS-95. A new generation cheered for this mission, because Glenn, an old man, once again became the most concerned explorer in America. As Joe Derrick, a businessman in Cleveland Plain, wrote, "Senior senators in Ohio will certainly not notice that he is not a born politician. He always does better in his first job. As an American hero,

Three years ago, Glen started his ruthless battle and circled the earth again. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Aging, he urged Dan Golding, director of NASA, to take him as the experimental object to study the similarity between aging symptoms and weightlessness effects. Golding was skeptical, but in the end he told Glen in June1998+1October, "You passed all the physical tests, and your science is very good. We will hold a press conference tomorrow to announce that john glenn will return to space. "

John glenn Jr., Henry C. Castle, 1998(NPG? Henry C. Castle Jr. Glenn wants to show Americans that age is not necessarily a limit. He said: "on behalf of all people of the same age and older, and those who are about to be our age, I assure you that I will do my best." D, he hopes that such an experiment can alleviate "the weakness of the elderly who plague many people."

It was not until Christmas 1997 that Glenn told his family about his campaign. His wife and two middle-aged children are not excited. The image of the space shuttle Challenger exploding in 1986 has been haunting his son Dave, who is now a father.

Despite the opposition of his family, Glenn plans to carry out a nine-day mission with six astronauts. In the preparation process, he received eight months of physical and technical training. In an exercise, the 70-year-old man fell into a swimming pool 9 to 10 feet high with the help of parachute and life-saving equipment.

On the day of launch, there were at least 2,500 journalists and more than 250,000 spectators in the crowd at Cape Canaveral, some of whom arrived there on February 20th 1962. When he first set foot on an unknown journey,

Michael nuefeld of the Smithsonian Institution, a senior curator of space history, recalled the excitement at the Air and Space Museum that day: "They had TV, and they were just crowded with people watching the launch. Most of them are too young to remember the first flight. " Nuefeld believes that part of the interest comes from Glenn's age and the feeling that "if a 77-year-old can do it, you and I can go into space". Surrounded by Glen, the museum has collected more than 18 electronic postcards, from people all over the world to senators/astronauts. "Thank you very much for reminding me that the only limit in life is what you impose on yourself. With hard work and a little luck, anything is possible, "said one. Another person wrote, "Your task is a great inspiration to the children I teach at General milam School in the grasslands of Texas."

Glenn's discovery team member is commander Curtis L. Brown; Pilot Steven W. Lindsay; Mission experts Scott e pa radzinski and Steven Crobinson, as well as Spanish astronaut Pedro duke and Japanese payload expert Chiaki Mu Kai. But for most Americans, the names of other astronauts are just Glenn's footnotes. After 90 successful space shuttle flights, the public was tired of the hundreds of men and women who boarded the spacecraft.

Glenn and other crew members participated in several exchanges between the space shuttle and the earth. He answered students' questions, interviewed the Japanese Prime Minister, accepted a live interview with tonight's host Jay Leno, and attended the 40th anniversary luncheon hosted by NASA in Houston with Golding and newscaster walter cronkite. He presided over Glenn's first flight report and happily retired to cover the flight for CNN. From Glenn's mercury tank

There is no bathroom facility, so he wears a condom with a rubber tube and a collection bag tied behind one leg in case he needs to pee. Discovery's facilities provide privacy and are relatively easy to eliminate body waste. During take-off and landing, Glenn and his crew wore diapers to deal with emergencies.

John glenn, author Boris Artzybasheff, 1962(NPG? Boris Artzybasheff), Glenn did many experiments in orbit. Take 10 blood sample and 16 urine sample to determine the effect of weightlessness. Every day, he fills out a back pain questionnaire, and he and Mu Kai's team record their food consumption. Even when sleeping, Glenn has to be examined. At the designated bedtime, he swallowed a thermistor capsule and recorded the core temperature of his body. During some sleep, he and Mu Kai wear an electrode mesh cap, which is connected to a device that tracks breathing, body and eye movements, muscle tension and brain waves. In order to judge how sleep disorder affects astronauts' cognitive ability, both of them accepted computer tests.

John charles, a project scientist on this flight and now a resident scientist at the Houston Space Center, said Glenn's test didn't find anything meaningful because it was impossible to draw a conclusion from an old man's sample "Yankee". However, Charles said that the inspection of the crew's readings did produce an unexpected conclusion: despite the great difference in age (Glenn's oldest crew member was 9 years old when he was orbiting in 1962), his readings were very similar to those of his colleagues.

The task of discovery is not limited to medical tests. All the staff have carried out more than 80 experiments. The biggest task is to launch and recycle the satellite Sparta, which studies the solar wind. When 165438+ landed safely at Kennedy Space Center on1October 7, Glenn could have been carried out of the space shuttle, minimizing the impact of returning to normal gravity. He insisted on walking, but later admitted that he vomited many times during the landing, which delayed the appearance of the crew.

Although some critics think that the senator's second flight is a publicity stunt of NASA, Glenn once again feels the flattery of Americans by writing letters and asking for an appearance. Some children have special feelings for this grandfather, while many old people think his achievements are encouraging. Glen once again found himself standing in the center of ticketing in new york. At that time, with only 500,000 people, he was dwarfed by the fact that 1962 attracted 4 million people. However, as * * * reported, "In the process of people passing by history, there are many pleasant scenes. Fathers carry their children on their shoulders, children wave American flags, and people line up to buy commemorative T-shirts.

In orbit, Glenn repeated what 1962 said when describing weightlessness, "Zero gravity, I feel good." He looked at the beautiful planet below, a picture he thought he would never see again. His own eyes, a tear appeared in his eyes, where he settled. "In weightlessness," he later recalled, "tears will not flow down your cheeks. It will stay there until it evaporates.

John glenn: American astronaut 1962 In February this year, he became the first American to fly around the earth. Since then, John Herschel Glenn Jr, as a typical American hero, has been standing in the public imagination. In john glenn: American Astronaut, a special edition e-book, including 45 amazing photos and a video, Andrew Chaikin explores Glenn's great road.