October 30, 1998
Somewhere between the Big Bang and this birthday, the universe learned how to make kindness, curiosity, humor, memory, and hope.
John Glenn: Discovery Launch
Birthday · October 30, 1998
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APOD published October 30, 1998. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
At left, the Space Shuttle Discovery waits in darkness on Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B. At right, on Thursday October 29, Discovery blasts through a bright afternoon sky returning Senator John Glenn to space over 36 years after he became the first American in orbit. Paving the way in 1962 Glenn flew solo, but today he is part of a crew of seven astronauts shepherding scientific payloads on shuttle mission STS-95. On tape, fellow Mercury Program astronaut Scott Carpenter again wished, "... Godspeed John Glenn." while Kennedy Space Center launch control offered, "Let the wings of Discovery lift us into the future." At age 77, John Glenn, a legend and hero of NASA's first human spaceflight program, has become the oldest space traveler. From orbit, Glenn commented, "... zero-g and I feel fine!"