BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sen. John Glenn may be an American hero, but that still doesn't rate him a window seat on the space shuttle.
Since he isn't part of the ascent crew that pilots the shuttle, Mr. Glenn will sit in the mid-deck during launch, NASA officials said Thursday. Imagine being strapped to a seat in a giant jet airliner pointed straight up -- with no windows.
The main thing that Mr. Glenn will see is a set of white lockers with handles about 18 inches in front of him. In the minutes before launch, he will hear a barrage of radio chatter between the control room and the pilots. But Mr. Glenn and other mid-deck passengers won't be saying much.
Then, as the final moments approach, the ground control team will send a final farewell. Back in 1962, the words were: "Godspeed John Glenn."
At launch, the shuttle's three main engines and two rocket boosters will fire with a combined 7 million pounds of thrust. Mr. Glenn will feel 3 Gs of force. That means a 200-pound man would feel as if he weighed 600 pounds.
Most of the pressure is felt in the chest, astronaut Rick Linnehan said.
"It makes it a little hard to breathe, but it's a minor thing. The big surprise is at main engine cut off. Those engines stop and boom, you're floating."
Even so, the shuttle flight will be a milder, smoother ride than the Mercury launch. In his first flight, Mr. Glenn pulled close to 7 Gs.
SPECIAL GLENN REPORTS
