1960s Timeline

Mar. 30, 1962 - Maj. Donald K. Slayton’s fellow astronauts have appealed to President Kennedy to reverse the decision disqualifying him from the second United States orbital spaceflight. Nothing apparently came of the plea because the Air Force major (bottom, second from left) is still grounded. But a source close to the astronauts said they were “upset” about the abrupt shelving of Major Slayton because of an intermittent heart flutter. The sequel to Lieut. Col. John H. Glen

Mar. 15, 1962 - Major Donald K. Slayton (left) of the Air Force has been ordered for medical reasons to withdraw as the Project Mercury pilot scheduled to take the next orbital flight. NASA announced that the withdrawal had been ordered after the 38-year-old astronaut had shown a recurrence of a heart palpitation condition. M. Scott Carpenter (right), a 36-year-old Navy lieutenant commander, was designated as the substitute astronaut to take the three-orbit flight, scheduled

Mar. 14, 1962 - A group of rowdy youths cursed and scuffled with Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. (pictured with his wife Annie) outside a church-sponsored party for teenagers near Arlington, Va., last Saturday night. The incident occurred outside the Little Falls United Presbyterian Church, when the astronaut helped Rev. Frank Erwin, the pastor, quell a disturbance. Some of the youths had apparently been drinking. At one point, the astronaut firmly pushed a youth away from the

Mar. 3, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. almost lost his composure today when he received several tumultuous receptions in his hometown. The police estimated that 50,000 persons crowded into New Concord, Ohio, which has a population of 2,127. The throng lined the streets to cheer the astronaut, who had flown around the world three times in less than five hours since his last visit here. Later in the day, the astronaut seemed near tears several times as he sat before 2,300

Mar. 1, 1962 - New York poured out its affection for Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. today with bands, banners, and a blizzard of paper so thick at times that only specks of buildings could be seen through it. The first American to orbit the Earth said plainly that he had never seen anything like the display. Colonel Glenn, his six fellow astronauts, their wives and children and parents, and leaders of the nation’s space enterprise heard shouts of praise from their landing at L

Feb. 27, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. warned Congress today that men would lose their lives in the new national endeavor of manned exploration of space and the moon. Just a week after he had orbited the earth three times, the marine pilot assumed a new role as a witness before Congressional committees. Noting that “we have been lucky so far,” the astronaut cautioned the legislators, “We will have failures. We will have sacrifices.” #nasa #nasabeyond #Space #1960s #spa

Feb. 26, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. and his family received a joyous, roaring welcome from their neighbors that almost got out of hand when they arrived home in Arlington, Va., today. Some 750 people — about 75% teenagers and children — were jammed around the home as the Glenns arrived. The cheering crowd pushed forward, broke through the ropes set up by the police to hold them back, and surged forward. Policemen surrounded the Glenns and escorted them up the drivew

Feb. 26, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John Glenn Jr. told Congress today that President Kennedy’s 4-year-old daughter, Caroline, seems to have him confused with a chimpanzee. Before leaving Florida this morning, he said, Caroline and her mother came to the airport and were introduced to the astronauts. “Caroline really cut us down to size,” he said, “when, after being introduced, she looked up and asked, ‘Where’s the monkey?’” She apparently had in mind the chimpanzee named Enos, who o

Feb. 26, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. was cheered up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol today by thousands of drenched spectators in a demonstration of human and national emotion such as Washington rarely gives. At the Capitol, his hair still damp from the bare-headed ride through the rain, Colonel Glenn spoke for 17 minutes to a joint meeting of Congress. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara called the Glenn appearance “magnificent.” “He showed poise and charm,” the

Feb. 25, 1962 - All seven Mercury astronauts will come to New York City for the parade honoring Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. on Thursday. Mayor Wagner announced Saturday that the two other astronauts who have made space flights, Capt. Virgil I. Grissom of the Air Force and Comdr. Alan B. Shepard Jr. of the Navy, would accompany Colonel Glenn. The party will also include the four astronauts who have not yet made space voyages: Lieut. Comdr. Malcolm S. Carpenter and Lieut. Com

Feb. 23, 1962 - Here is a special CBS News presentation on the historic flight of Lieut. Colonel John H. Glenn Jr. #nasa #nasabeyond #Space #1960s #spaceship #spacestation #spaceman #spacecraft #spacetravel #spaceage #spaceexploration #SpaceShuttle #spacedesign #spacecoast #spacewalk #spacemarines #spaceoddity #spacesuit #JFK #1960s #history #podcast #news

Feb. 23, 1962 - It would have been hard to convince anyone in a television quiz-show audience in New York a little more than four years ago that a red-haired contestant would be the first American to orbit the globe. In September and October of 1957, the relatively unknown Maj. John H. Glenn Jr. won $15,000 by identifying 25 songs on a CBS quiz show called “Name That Tune.” Shortly before, he had broken the jet speed record between New York and California as a test pilot. Per

Feb. 23, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr., the first American to orbit the earth, returned to his take-off point today. He was honored by President Kennedy and received the cheers of a grateful nation. The President flew to Cape Canaveral, where the three-orbit flight started Tuesday, to tell the 40-year-old marine how “proud of him” his countrymen were. Then the President pinned NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal on the astronaut and read a citation that praised his “gre

Feb. 22, 1962 - President Kennedy brought the Glenn family to Florida today on the way to a reunion with the head of the house — Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. David Glenn, 16 years old, the astronaut’s son, summed up his reaction to the two-hour flight in Mr. Kennedy’s big jetliner. “Any plane I’m on after this,” he said, “will look like a wreck.” David and his sister, Carolyn, 14, were taken into the President’s compartment to meet him and then were allowed to go to the cock

Feb. 22, 1962 - New York City plans to give “one of the great welcomes of its history” to Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. and his fellow astronauts. Mayor Wagner announced today that a ticker-tape parade and civic welcome would be given next Thursday for Colonel Glenn, Comdr. Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Capt. Virgil I. Grissom. They will be accompanied by their families. Also included in the welcome will be James E. Webb, director of NASA, and Dr. Robert Gilruth, director of the M

Feb. 21, 1962 - Soviet Premier Khrushchev called on the U.S. today to join its efforts with those of the Soviet Union in the conquest of space. In a message to President Kennedy, the Soviet leader said all nations wanted scientific achievements to “benefit man and not to be used for ‘cold war’ purposes and the arms race.” Mr. Khrushchev’s message contained warm congratulations on the orbital flight of Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. Noting that a U.S. citizen had joined “the fa

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 th

Feb. 21, 1962 - President Kennedy will turn his meeting with Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday into a family reunion for the astronaut. Mr. Kennedy will take Colonel Glenn’s wife and his two children, the colonel’s parents and Mrs. Glenn’s parents with him when he flies from Washington tomorrow in his jet plane. The party will land at Palm Beach, Fla., late in the afternoon. Another Air Force plane will be waiting to take the astronaut’s family

Feb. 21, 1962 - President Kennedy wrote Soviet Premier Khrushchev today that he hoped representatives of their two Governments could meet “at a very early date” to discuss cooperative space projects. He made the proposal in a reply to a letter from Mr. Khrushchev received in Washington today. The Soviet Premier congratulated the U.S. on the orbital flight of Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. and called for cooperation on further space activities. At his news conference today, Mr.

Feb. 20, 1962 - At 9:30 a.m., when the New York Mets’ second day of spring training was set to begin in St. Petersburg, Fla., most of the players were grouped around the clubhouse radio listening to the countdown and the launching of Colonel John Glenn Jr. at Cape Canaveral. When manager Casey Stengel came out of his office, Hobie Landrith, a catcher, said: “Glenn’s over Africa now. He just left a minute ago.” “I don’t care if he’s coming down in left field in two minutes,” s