THE NASA MERCURY PROGRAM.
It started long before Alan Shepard said, “Let’s light this candle,” as he sat atop his rocket for a “blast” in space. Of course, while he was brave as they come, he had already peed his spacesuit, leaving a puddle in the small of his back. Space history has its ignoble stories too.
Shepard’s first flight on the heels of Russia’s Yuri Gagarin, was a hop from Cape Canaveral, Florida to the Atlantic Ocean. He landed fine, got out in the water, and took a copter back to his “recovery”. I guess it takes a lot to recover from blasting into space for a few minutes; especially if you have a puddle of 10W/40 sloshing around your backside.
Gus, whoever would name an astronaut Gus? Gus Grissom took a ride, and by the time he’d recover from letting his capsule sink to the bottom of the Atlantic, he had earned his bones, and gave his life bravely in the Apollo program. He went from being one of my least favorite astronauts to one of my most favorite on the day he died. There is nothing intelligent one can say about dying at the top of a rocket filled with oxygen. His fellows, White and Chaffee deserve the same honors. I am sure others lived because of their sacrifice. Enough said.
John Glenn had all the fun. 3 times around the world as fast as anyone had ever circumnavigated it. We all know he went on to great stuff, because these guy really did have the “right stuff”. I always wondered, though, just how did he get hurt in the bath tub. I’d like to think he was doing a handstand while washing his parts as it were. Nothing less would suffice for one of the original mercury kids.
The rest of the flights were pretty routine, but all brave souls slipped the bonds of Earth and “touched the face of God.” Keep in mind back in those days (early 60’s) few really thought we would end up on the moon, glean so much about ourselves and the stars, advance science, medicine, engineering to the point it is now. I can see the space station overhead some nights. It flies on the backs of the Mercury astronauts, all those who flew, built, imagined, and made real the dream of humans since the dawn of humanity itself.
For my buck, I have to give the Mercury men thanks for the memories. Sitting in the sixth grade, watching almost unimaginable magic transform my world, I could barely perceive what was really happening. The world was expanding exponentially, and I was a part of it. We all took rides on the Mercury flights. From our chairs we viewed America moving forward; fast forwarding into a mindset of advancement and promise. Wishes come true are the memories of space flight.
Such are the Mercury crews: genuine heroes who got their kicks in fast machines, one too many beverages, and the knowledge that it takes more than brains to go into space, it takes guts; something they all had in abundance.
