John Glenn Became America's Biggest Hero 50 Years Ago

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Click topic for LINK

John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, doing so three times at an altitude of up to 162 statute miles and speeds of up to 17,500 miles an hour, finally returning home with a successful splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, 800 miles off Bermuda.


It was no accident that Glenn was chosen to be first to orbit the planet. As a U.S. Marine, he flew 59 combat missions in World War II and later flew 63 more during the Korean War.

He became known as one of the best test pilots in the country, and in 1957, prior to being chosen one of the seven Mercury astronauts who would take on the Russians in the new space race, Glenn flew to New York from Los Angeles in 3 hours and 23 minutes, becoming the first pilot to make a transcontinental flight averaging above the speed of sound.