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Glenn Spaceflight May Happen Tomorrow Morning

Feb. 19, 1962 - The prospects for sending Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. into orbit tomorrow seem better than they have for a week. The only apparent obstacle facing the repeatedly delayed flight is a stretch of “broken cloudiness” forecast for the Cape Canaveral launching area. Project Mercury spokesmen estimated the odds on getting off tomorrow were “at least 60-40 in our favor.” The launching is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. at the earliest. Three times last week, orders to start the count were held up pending a midnight briefing. Each time the launching attempt was canceled. Colonel Glenn, a 40-year-old Marine Corps officer, appeared calm today, as he has since he first was scheduled to make the dangerous flight shortly before Christmas. He was interviewed today as he sat in a barber’s chair. He said the postponements — there have now been 10 — were “of no consequence because I have been training and waiting for three years. A few more days won’t matter.”

© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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