John Glenn Inside Friendship 7 - April 1980 - Shot on Film
I'm guessing this is the original Mercury capsule that John Glenn flew in the first American orbital mission of February of 1962. It was also on display at the Smithsonian Air Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Glenn was supposed to have made seven orbits, but a malfunction sign showed up on Mission Control's computers (which turned out to be an error), limiting Glenn's flight to only three orbits. The error suggested that the heat shield was going to slip off, so the best way to protect the spacecraft and Glenn was to keep the booster rockets attached to the heat shield. (The data later determined that this was not necessary.) Glenn was able to manually maneuver the ship into re-entry position, and it successfully landed in the Atlantic Ocean. (I recommend seeing this segment in "The Right Stuff." While the film plays a little fast and loose with the facts, this is still one of the best sequences in the film, pretty much recreating the flight and the tensions among Mission Control. Ed Harris' portrayal of John Glenn is an amazing performance. The film would not be out until more than three years after my visit to this museum.)
I shot this photo with my Vivitar 400 S/L camera, using my Vivitar 50mm lens. My film was Eastman Kodak 5247 motion picture negative, tungsten balanced, rated at ASA 100. The negative was scanned at Samy's Camera in Pasadena, California.
John Glenn Inside Friendship 7 - April 1980 - Shot on Film
I'm guessing this is the original Mercury capsule that John Glenn flew in the first American orbital mission of February of 1962. It was also on display at the Smithsonian Air Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Glenn was supposed to have made seven orbits, but a malfunction sign showed up on Mission Control's computers (which turned out to be an error), limiting Glenn's flight to only three orbits. The error suggested that the heat shield was going to slip off, so the best way to protect the spacecraft and Glenn was to keep the booster rockets attached to the heat shield. (The data later determined that this was not necessary.) Glenn was able to manually maneuver the ship into re-entry position, and it successfully landed in the Atlantic Ocean. (I recommend seeing this segment in "The Right Stuff." While the film plays a little fast and loose with the facts, this is still one of the best sequences in the film, pretty much recreating the flight and the tensions among Mission Control. Ed Harris' portrayal of John Glenn is an amazing performance. The film would not be out until more than three years after my visit to this museum.)
I shot this photo with my Vivitar 400 S/L camera, using my Vivitar 50mm lens. My film was Eastman Kodak 5247 motion picture negative, tungsten balanced, rated at ASA 100. The negative was scanned at Samy's Camera in Pasadena, California.