An address by former NASA astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn and the awarding of three honorary degrees highlighted Spring Convocation for Honors, held Thursday, April 14 in the Koury Center.
Convocation honors Dean’s List and President’s List students, the faculty, graduate students, the Class of 2005 and members of the Elon Society, the premier annual giving group at Elon.
Glenn, 83, received an honorary doctor of laws degree during the convocation. Honorary doctor of humane letters degrees were awarded to Furman Moseley, Jr. ’56, a successful business leader and generous Elon supporter, and James B. Powell, a Burlington, N.C., philanthropist and community leader.
Glenn made history in 1962 when he circled the Earth three times aboard the Friendship 7 space capsule, completing the first manned orbital mission by the United States. During his address, he discussed his experiences in space and shared his thoughts on politics and education.
Glenn said the view from space was fascinating and humbling. “From space, you get a different view of sunsets and sunrises. For a short period of time, you see the entire color spectrum.” Glenn said astronauts in orbit around the planet see the sun rise and set about 18 times in a 24-hour period. “I think every astronaut comes back impressed with how fragile our atmosphere is.”
He said many simple tasks on Earth become quite difficult in the zero gravity of space. He drew laughs from the audience of 2,600 people as he described the difficulty of getting eyedrops in his eyes during his last space trip in 1998. Food choices are limited too. “There are no bread or sugar cookies in outer space, because the crumbs would float away,” Glenn said.
The main purpose of space flight is for astronauts to conduct basic research. Glenn said his 1998 space shuttle flight had 83 different experiments, ranging from molecular studies on rice to metallurgical research. Glenn also served as a human guinea pig in space, studying the effects of aging in space.
“The object of being up there was to compare my reaction with those of the younger astronauts,” Glenn said. “What might that mean for aging here on Earth? I hope some of the things we learn might improve the quality of life for people my age.”
A native of Cambridge, Ohio, who grew up in nearby New Concord, Glenn flew 59 combat missions in World War II and 63 missions in Korea as a Marine pilot. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1965 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, serving his native Ohio for 24 years.
As a senator, Glenn said he became concerned about the number of young people who were cynical or apathetic about political and public service. He encouraged everyone to find and join the political party most closely aligned with their views.
“Politics is the personnel department for the Constitution,” Glenn said. “Politics is trying to take those words off paper and make them come true for everyone, and that’s a hard thing to do.”
He cited education and research as the two things that have set America apart from the rest of the world throughout its history.
“Education was not just for the kids from the castle or the rich kids in this country,” Glenn said. “Everyone went to school.” Research has improved quality of life, doubling life expectancy and bringing advancements in technology and business. “We jumped ahead of everyone in just a few years because of research.”
With the next space shuttle launch set for May 15, Glenn said he is concerned about proposals in NASA to cut back on research in space. “Many things we learned in space can be beneficial here on Earth.”
Earlier in the day, Glenn held a question-and-answer session with students in Whitley Auditorium. Although John and Robert Kennedy were unsuccessful in their attempts to persuade Glenn to run for the Senate in 1962, he became good friends with the Kennedy family. He and his wife, Annie, were in Los Angeles the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. It fell to Glenn and another close family friend to tell Kennedy’s children that their father was dead. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” he said.
Glenn was asked about the dangers, many of them unknown, of early space flight and how he and his fellow astronauts overcame their fears.
“There are dangers, and I’d be lying to you if I said there isn’t fear,” Glenn said. “But you have to remember the context of the times. This was the Cold War. We didn’t know when or if the Soviets were going to come into Germany and eventually try to conquer the world, so we looked at those early missions almost like combat missions.”
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