Feb. 21, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. was pronounced today by the Project Mercury physician, Lieut. Col. William Douglas, to be in “excellent condition.” The physician said that the astronaut had suffered no adverse effects form his five-hour trip into space yesterday. The reassuring medical diagnosis had a significance extending far beyond the personal physical condition of Colonel Glenn. It represented a preliminary but encouraging piece of evidence strengthening the indications that it is feasible for man to travel safely into space alone. For the public at large, Colonel Glenn, Marine Corps pilot, has become a new national hero. To the medical profession, he represents a prize living specimen who can help answer the crucial question of whether man can function under the weightless condition of space flight. The public acclaim will come Friday when Colonel Glenn is to be flown back to Cape Canaveral and greeted by President Kennedy. For the moment, however, the astronaut was being confined to a small hospital on Grand Turk Island, The Bahamas. The island has become a tracking outpost for the space age. For the next two days, he will undergo intensive physical and psychological examinations such as few men have experienced.
