IV 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 102 

Commemorating and praising the Honorable John Glenn on the 50th 

anniversary of his historic orbital space flight. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2012 

Mr. RYAN of Ohio (for himself, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LATTA, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. TIBERI, Ms. SUTTON, and Ms. 

FUDGE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Commemorating and praising the Honorable John Glenn on 

the 50th anniversary of his historic orbital space flight. 

Whereas John Glenn’s 1962 space flight aboard Friendship 

7 was a pivotal moment in United States history; 

Whereas the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics launched 

Sputnik I on October 4, 1957, and the people of the 

United States were immediately alarmed that the Nation 

was no longer the world’s technological leader; 

Whereas the United States determined that a presence in 

outer space was critically important to its national security during the Cold War; 

Whereas to meet this challenge the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was reorganized on OctoVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:06 Feb 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC102.IH HC102

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ber 1, 1958, into the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research; 

Whereas John Glenn of New Concord, Ohio, joined the 

United States Navy Reserve as an aviation cadet following the bombing of Pearl Harbor; 

Whereas John Glenn was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant 

in the United States Marine Corps on March 31, 1943; 

Whereas John Glenn flew 59 combat missions flying the FU– 

4 Corsair in the South Pacific during World War II and 

was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses; 

Whereas John Glenn flew 63 combat missions in the F9F 

Panther and 27 combat missions in the F–86 Sabre in 

the Korean War and received two Distinguished Flying 

Crosses; 

Whereas John Glenn was assigned as a test pilot at Test 

Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River and on 

July 16, 1957, flew the first transcontinental flight, 

Project Bullet, averaging speeds greater than the speed 

of sound travelling 2,446 miles in 3 hours 23 minutes 

and 8.1 seconds from Los Alamitos, California, to Floyd 

Bennett Field, New York, in a F8U Crusader and was 

awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; 

Whereas NASA selected 7 United States Armed Forces test 

pilots, including Major John H. Glenn, Jr., USMC, to 

volunteer and fly in its manned space program, Project 

Mercury on April 9, 1959; 

Whereas NASA conducted 20 unmanned launches of the 

Project Mercury space capsule including some with monkeys and chimpanzees and conducting 2 suborbital space 


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flights in 1961 commanded by Commander Alan 

Shepard, USN, and Captain Gus Grissom, USAF; 

Whereas after numerous delays, John Glenn boarded his 

Mercury capsule named Friendship 7 on February 20, 

1962; 

Whereas the world stopped as the Atlas rocket with 360,000 

pounds of thrust lifted Friendship 7 off the launch pad 

with the voice of fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter at mission control wishing ‘‘Godspeed John Glenn’’; 

Whereas Glenn felt 6 times the force of gravity on lift off and 

then once in space, we heard his voice crackling over the 

radio ‘‘Zero-g and I feel fine. Capsule is turning around. 

Oh, that view is tremendous!’’; 

Whereas great concern was raised about indications that the 

heat shield might not be properly attached which would 

result in the fiery destruction of the spacecraft and astronaut upon reentry; 

Whereas with a successful splashdown, John Glenn had 

reached speeds of over 18,000 miles per hour, and in 4 

hours 55 minutes and 23 seconds became the first United 

States citizen to orbit the Earth, rocketing the Nation 

back into the space race and taking a vital step on man’s 

journey to the moon; 

Whereas John Glenn’s public service career was far from over 

being elected Ohio’s United States Senator in 1974 and 

serving as the first Ohioan popularly elected to 4 terms 

and serving an Ohio record of 24 years consecutive years; 

Whereas having announced his retirement from the Senate, 

NASA selected Glenn as a Payload Specialist on the 

Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS–95; 


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Whereas Glenn spent 9 days from October 29 until November 

7, 1998, in space undergoing various experiments to research possible links between the human aging process 

and the negative symptoms experienced by astronauts exposed for a lengthy period of time to the weightlessness 

of space and at age 77 becoming the oldest United States 

citizen to travel into space; 

Whereas John Glenn is the recipient of numerous awards including 6 Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Congressional Space of Medal of Honor, and the Congressional 

Gold Medal; 

Whereas John Glenn continues to inspire a new generation 

of leaders at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at 

the Ohio State University; and 

Whereas John Glenn and his childhood sweetheart, Anna 

Margaret Castor, Annie, have celebrated 68 years of marriage together and are blessed with 2 children, John 

David Glenn and Carolyn Ann Glenn, and grandsons 

Daniel and Zachary: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of John 

4 Glenn’s historic orbital space flight with Project 

5 Mercury aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962; 

6 (2) honors and praises John Glenn on the occa7 sion of this anniversary and for his lifetime of serv8 ice; and 

9 (3) acknowledges and affirms that John Glenn, 

10 pilot, astronaut, soldier, Senator, and statesman, has 


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1 faithfully served his State and Nation in war and 

2 peace and is truly and will always remain a United 

3 States hero. 

Æ 


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