The John Glenn Story

With John Glenn, Walter Cronkite, Mike McCurry,
Chris Kraft, Gene Kranz and Ted Williams

Glenn's first flight ushered in the modern era
of space exploration for America.

His landmark return to space represented the final chapter
of space exploration in the 20th century.

Pioneers of the American space program share their extraordinary journey,
a journey that would lead to the moon and the greatest
technological achievement of the 20th century.

Gene Kranz, Chris Kraft, Glynn Lunney, Guenter Wendt and Sam Beddingfield

When an Atlas rocket launched John Glenn into space in 1962,
the Mission Controller captured the hopes of a nation
when he said, "God speed, John Glenn."

Mission controllers watched helplessly as Glenn's heart rate continued
to climb. "This is Cape, do you read? Over......Friendship 7, this is
Cape, do you read? Over......Uh, 7, this is Cape, transmitting blind. Uh,
Friendship 7, this is Cape, do you read?"

The nation held its breath as Friendship 7 reentered the earth's atmosphere
and Mission Control received another transmission from John Glenn:
"My condition is good; but, boy, that was a real fireball."

One of the surprises to everyone was how much the American public
particularly, but the world public at large, was ready to elevate
John Glenn to the status of hero.

Known around the world, John Glenn is one of the most
celebrated Americans of our time.

Spectacular shots of mission STS-95 allow the audience to travel
inside the shuttle Discovery with Glenn as he works as a payload
specialist and views the Earth from space for the first time in 36 years.

Test pilot, astronaut, war hero, and four-term Senator. Glenn's two
space flights bookend an extraordinary life in politics, including his
close friendship with the Kennedys and his 24 years in Congress.

Written, Directed and Edited by Michael R. Lawrence

Produced by Julian Krainin and Michael R. Lawrence

Original Music by Elam Sprenkle

Narrated by John Caps

Executive Producer Pat Mitchell

JOHN GLENN

"All these years I had always hoped I'd be able to go back up again. But, through the years, I really had no realistic hopes that that would happen; but then what actually occurred was that age became an advantage instead of a disadvantage."

WALTER CRONKITE

"This has taken some very tough training on Senator Glenn's part. He didn't just sign up for a trip. He has spent hours upon hours, days upon days, weeks upon weeks, in very intensive training."

GENE KRANZ

"President Kennedy's pronouncement that we would send a man to the moon and back caught all of us that were down in the trenches sort of off-base. I remember my thoughts were, 'Jesus Christ, doesn't he know how tough this thing is? We have yet to put an American in orbit. All we've done is put a man in a simple lob shot down the Eastern test range. That guy should have done more homework before he made this kind of a statement.'

"And, that was the initial impression; and then, you know, later on that day, later in that evening, you sat back and said, 'Holy cow, what a job! We're here, we're the right people, and it's up to us to make it happen."

SAM BEDDINGFIELD

"It was not unusual that three out of five rockets would blow up after the launch, or they'd just sit on the pad and fall right back into it.

"At one time, before we had launched any of the astronauts, they watched an Atlas launch. It lasted about 35 seconds and blew up, and all seven of those guys weren't sure they really wanted to ride an Atlas at that point."

CHRIS KRAFT

"Everything was going first-class; and as we were approaching the end of the first orbit, we got word from the White House that the President wanted to communicate to John Glenn. So, we patched in the communications; and we were all set when we got a call from a controller that said, 'Hey, we're seeing something unusual in the spacecraft, a single measurement.' That indicated that John Glenn's heat shield had come loose."

WALTER CRONKITE

"Now, if that shield was not in place, the spacecraft would have burned, incinerated almost instantly, with the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. So this was highly critical, a very, very serious problem"

TED WILLIAMS

"I was in the same squadron with John Glenn during the war. Oh, I'm gonna be down there at the Cape when he goes off on his last trip. I sure have got my thoughts about him, all the way. But, I'll just bet, right now, everything's gonna be all right."

JOHN GLENN

"I wish there were words to describe what it's like to look out the window from up there. It's not only a thrill but an emotional experience, also. And, it's sort of overwhelming to look out at this kind of Creation"

COMMENTS IN TIMES SQUARE

"People say, what kind of a fellow is John Glenn? I think he's a super individual."

"The fact that he again went into space shows that he doesn't give up."

"His sense of valor, patriotism, duty to country, is what drives him."

"I admire him as anybody in my life."

"He, all too rarely, would allow people to see the inner man."

"He is a very calm and cool customer. I think it masks, in some ways, an incredible drive to succeed."

"Great senator! And, he'd have been a good president, too."

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The John Glenn Story