Fifty years ago today I was a 13 year old boy dreading a doctor's appointment with Dr. J. Winston Morrison. I took my mind off my dread watching the left off of an Atlas rocket carrying a 40-year old US Marine Corps major named John Glenn into earth orbit. At that time the Atlas rocket was not dependable. It had blown up on the launch pad many times. John Glenn was lucky that day and the rocket worked to perfection. Soon JOhn Glenn was in orbit around the earth. Each orbit of the earth took ninety minutes. John was supposed to stay in orbit for 7 orbits or 630 minutes. His flight was cut short at 3 orbits with no explanation. (We later found out that an indicator warned that his heat shield was loose and he might not be able to reenter earth's atmosphere without burning up. Luck was with John Glenn and he made it back to earth safely. He became an instant American hero. Some weeks later I remember listening to the description of his ticket tape parade in New York City on a radio in Sid Ersler's Hudson car. I was doing circular deliveries.
In February of 1966 i was honored to have the opprtunity ti interview John Glenn in his home in Houston. He was charming and personable. I aslo met his wife Annie. John went on to be a US Senator. He orbited the earth again in the Space Shuttle.
John is now 90 years "young" and still going strong. This is his special day!
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