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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 0695.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT Sentimental journey A US space hero is returning to space on the Shuttle but is it for science, or just a romantic ego trip? TIM FURNISS/LONDON WATCHING HIS fourth sunset of the day, sitting on the deck of the USS Noa recovery ship in the Atlantic Ocean after his splashdown on 20 February, 1962, US Marine Lt Col John Herschel Glenn yearned to return to orbit. On 7 November, 1998, Sena tor John Glenn, who flew the pioneering three-orbit flight in the John Glenn has his first Space Shuttle flightsuit fit check Mercury capsule Friendship 7, will get his wish. Glenn will be payload specialist on Space was on the basis that he would fly only if he met Questions are being asked, however. The Shuttle mission STS9 S/Discoveiy, at the vener- the agency's physical and mental requirements, resulting "graph" on Glenn's space health will be able age of 77, becoming by far the oldest space "Since the ageing process and the experience drawn between two points spanning 3 5 years, traveller, beating the previous record of 61 years of making a spaceflight share a number of phys- Musgrave flew first in 1983 and was told that he held by six-times NASA mission specialist iological responses," says NASA, a series of would not get another flight after he returned astronaut Story Musgrave. experiments "...sponsored by the space agency from Columbia mission STS81 in November Glenn has been hounding NASA for years • and the National Institute on Ageing" will help 1997, at age 61, and he left NASA, about flying on the Shuttle. Two political col- to provide a model system to help scientists Some Washington insiders have suggested leagues, Senator J ake Gam and Congressman interested in understanding ageing. that Glenn's flight is a "political payback" for his Bill Nelson, flew Shuttle missions as "political Some similarities include bone and muscle support for US President Bill Clinton when the observers" in 1985/6 because their political loss, balance disorders and sleep disturbances. Senate was asking serious questions about elec- responsibilities were associated with NASA. The experiments will investigate how space trav- tion funding activities. It has been suggested These were seen as outrageous ego trips el affects sleep and circadian rhythms; and bio- that it is an unnecessary diversion for NASA forced on NASA - and criticised by Glenn at logical functions and how certain proteins affect from the hard work required for the first assem- the time as "cosmic carnival rides". The the breakdown of muscles in microgravity. bly flights of the International Space Station. Challenger accident in 1986, which killed Daniel Goldin, NASAs Administrator, says: seven astronauts (including a private citizen, AGE RESEARCH "Not only is John Glenn a Marine test pilot, an teacher Christa McAuliffe), dispelled any idea Space biomedical researchers and gerontolo- astronaut, and the first American to orbit the that flying into space was safe and routine, gists believe that more research in these areas Earth, he brings a unique blend of experience to The fun rides were out. could help people live more productive and NASA. He has flight, operational and policy NASA then, and for many years since, has active lives and could reduce the number of experience. Unlike most astronauts, he never resisted vigorously any attempt to fly Glenn, but individuals requiring long-term care in later got an opportunity for a second flight. He is part suddenly the space agency has caved in, justify- years. Glenn will make a "bold statement about of the NASA family-an American hero-and he ing his mission as an important opportunity to the capabilities of older people", says Dr Robert has the right stuff for this mission." study the effect of weightlessness and the Butler, professor of geriatrics at Mount Sinai Glenn's mission will help sustain the enor- spaceflight environment on an elderly person. Medical Center. mous public interest in space thatNASA gener- Glenn had been working behind the scenes NASA says that it has a wealth of data on ated through the success of the Mars Pathfinder with the US National Institute on Ageing for Glenn's healdi during and immediately after the mission last year. many years and will now operate or act as a test Friendship 7 mission and that it will be useful to Whether it be an ego trip, health, politics or subject for two routine medical experiments on compare this with the results from the a diversion, one thing is certain, Glenn's flight muscle loss and sleeplessness, allocated to the November Shuttle mission, especially as it will will be the most publicised Space Shuttle mis- mission well before Glenn had been assigned to be an important factor in deciding whether in sion for many years and quite simply, an it. Data from the experiments will now be asso- the future "space tourism" could become a real- unashamed sentimental journey for America's ciated with the Institute. Glenn's request to fly ity for all ages. first space hero. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 25 - 31 March 1998 29
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