BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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John Glenn puts on the mesh cap that will monitor eye movements and brain waves. The suit he's wearing will measure respiration and heartbeats.
(NASA photo)
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In John Glenn's words, he is about to become a "single data point" in the study of what happens to people when they fly into space.
Even though the media keep focusing on the novelty of a 77-year-old man in orbit, even though more than 300,000 people will gather in Florida to watch a revered space hero blast off again Thursday, Sen. Glenn insists it's the mission that matters.
"If you eliminate the science benefit, there's no reason for me to go," he said. "Except that I want to go again . . . and that's not a justification."
So what are the scientific reasons for putting Mr. Glenn aboard the space shuttle Discovery? What might nearly nine days in space teach the world about aging that can't be figured out on Earth?
According to NASA and the National Institute on Aging, Mr. Glenn's experiments will offer new insight to balance disorders, sleep disorders, muscle and bone loss, even immune system changes that occur in space and among older people.
Mr. Glenn won't be testing any bold new treatments to address these problems, but he will be 16 years older than anyone else who has ever flown in space. As such, his "single data point" carries above-average significance.
"The need to understand the interaction between the aging process and space has escalated in the past decade," said Dr. David Dinges, chief of the sleep and chronobiology division at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "And it has become apparent that humans of different ages will spend increasingly longer periods of time in space. Sen. Glenn is ideally suited to help shed light on these issues."
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Mr. Glenn works with equipment in the Spacehab module. He'll run several experiments.
(NASA photo)
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During the days, Mr. Glenn will have a dual role. He will be running several experiments in the Spacehab module, taking pictures, and performing other duties as a payload specialist. Meanwhile, he will be a guinea pig for studies comparing the effects of aging and the effects of space travel.
During the flight, he will give repeated blood and urine samples while carefully recording everything he eats and drinks. When he sleeps, he will hooked up at 21 different points.
His head will be wrapped in a blue web of monitors to track eye movement and brain waves. His midsection will be wrapped in an equipment-packed black girdle to track heartbeats, breathing rates and more. He also will swallow a pill that Mr. Glenn says is "bigger than any vitamin pill you've ever seen" that's equipped to measure and broadcast his internal temperature as it passes through his body.
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Glenn's pill
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The space data will be compared to baseline data gathered during pre-flight training in Houston. After he lands, Mr. Glenn will go through the drill again to measure how fast his body returns to normal.
It is too early to predict exactly how the basic data gathered from Mr. Glenn will be used. But there are some goals.
For example, doctors already know that gravity affects the inner ear, which controls balance. Watching what happens after taking away gravity could lead to better understanding of what else is involved in controlling balance. The observations could lead to targets for new treatments for people with balance disorders.
NASA already knows a lot about how space travel affects the human body, including people who have spent vastly more time in space than Mr. Glenn will. Even so, Mr. Glenn's data has real value.
He will be 16 years older than Story Musgrave, the six-flight shuttle veteran and previous oldest man in space. And some of the data to be gathered from John Glenn have never been tracked so thoroughly before.
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FEEDBACK
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Do you have any messages for John Glenn? Questions about space travel? Comments about the space program?
E-mail to readers@enquirer.com
Send faxes to (513) 768-8340.
Call 381-2800. When prompted, dial 7010 and leave a message.
Letters to John Glenn flight, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 19th Floor, 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Selected reader comments and answers to selected questions will appear during Enquirer coverage of the space shuttle flight, Thursday through Nov. 7.
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The goal is to look for big differences in reactions to space between younger and older people. This is important to NASA because many more people of widely varying ages are expected to be spending much more time in space - soon.
Construction is scheduled to begin Nov. 20 on the International Space Station, the biggest space project ever. It will be far more sophisticated than Russia's aging Mir space station, which lasted far longer than the United States' Skylab.
The new space station will be packed with scientists, picked for their intellect, experience and skill rather than being perfect physical specimens. Data from Mr. Glenn will help set the limits on who can qualify to go.
Long term, monitoring the people who spend time on the space station will help NASA plan a manned mission to Mars, which could take eight to 10 months in travel time - one way - plus a year or more exploring the Red Planet.
One limitation to the hard science of the aging study: Mr. Glenn won't be testing any new medications, diets or exercise regimens that might mitigate the impact of space travel. In fact, Mr. Glenn was recently dropped from the one study in the mission that involved a test medication: a trial using the hormone melatonin as a sleep aid.
But that's OK to Dr. Charles Wood, chairman of space studies at the University of North Dakota. Science often takes one step at a time.
"Space isn't just for astronauts anymore. To me the space shuttle and the space station are important programs because I believe we won't stay on Earth forever," Dr. Wood said. "These are the training wheels we need so we know how to live in space for long durations."
Local experts on aging also expect that Mr. Glenn's data will be of limited immediate value - but they still support the mission.
"Nine days is a short time to notice many significant changes," said Dr. Arvind Modawal, a geriatrics expert at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. "But his flight is an achievement in itself for older people."
In fact, Dr. Modawl said that the wealth of information gathered by geriatric researchers about aging on Earth may be more useful to NASA than the other way around.
Light therapy to reset the body's internal clock. Sleep aids known to work for seniors. Treatments to prevent osteoporosis. Tips for seniors to avoid injury during exercise. All these may help astronauts returning to Earth or arriving on Mars after long space flights, Dr. Modawal said.
Symbolism matters, too
The harshest critics dismiss Mr. Glenn's mission as a giant publicity stunt. But many science and health leaders strongly support the mission, both for its direct scientific value and its symbolic impact. Only time will tell which part matters more.
"Think about it this way. Newspapers all over the world will be doing stories on space that they wouldn't otherwise be doing," Dr. Wood said. "That has to make a difference."
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COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH
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Monday: 8 a.m. Countdown begins at T-43 hours. The countdown includes 35 hours of built-in hold time. Flight crew flies from Houston, arriving at Kennedy Space Center at 2 p.m. Launch team begins checking out flight software and navigation systems.
Tuesday: Countdown resumes at T-27 hours. All non-essential personnel cleared from launch pad. Crews begin loading cryogenic reactants and retract mid-body umbilical unit.
Wednesday: Countdown resumes at T-11 hours. Launch team begins payload closeouts and activates flight control, navigation and communication systems. Crew stows flight crew gear on shuttle. Service structure rotates away from shuttle.
Thursday: Countdown resumes at T-6 hours. Crews begin loading external fuel tank. Astronauts board shuttle at 11:15 a.m. Ground crew evacuates after final hatch and cabin leak checks. Weather permitting, Discovery blasts off at 2 p.m.
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The "Glenn flight" already has been a public relations home run for NASA, for awareness of space exploration and research, and for senior issues.
Even before blast off, Mr. Glenn has become the spokesman for a senior exercise regimen promoted by the National Institute on Aging. For $4.99 (suggested retail price) kids can buy a Hot Wheels "action pack" of John Glenn action figures. Toy versions of the other six shuttle crew members won't be available.
Focusing attention on aging issues also matters. There are twice as many people above age 65 today than there were in 1963. Meanwhile, the number of people over age 85 will grow six-fold in the next 50 years.
"Clearly there is a public relations component to this that I think we should welcome," said Dr. Andrew Monjan, chairman of the neurobiology branch of the National Institute on Aging. "The flight does refocus interest about aging. More importantly, Glenn can act as a model for successful aging."
"Here's a 77-year-old man who can engage in these activities that have traditionally been limited to younger people. That's much more dramatic than saying he's been a fully functioning member of Congress," Dr. Monjan said.
If space research can lead to ways to reduce the high medical needs of people over 85, it will be very important. Mr. Glenn's flight won't come close to solving this dilemma, but it takes a step, Dr. Monjan said.
Meanwhile, NASA officials seriously hope the spotlight on Mr. Glenn will ignite public support for several much bigger projects - the International Space Station, manned flights to Mars, even a new version of the space shuttle.
This is one part of the media hype that Mr. Glenn accepts. He tolerates the increasingly silly questions about his age because he deeply believes Earth-bound humans already benefit from the space program and will benefit even more in the future.
"I wish every flight got the kind of attention we used to get back in the Mercury days," Mr. Glenn said. "I'm proud to be part of this team, part of this crew. These are brilliant people here."
If Mr. Glenn's success makes him a poster parent for healthy aging, so be it.
"I've had a lot of letters from people thinking of doing things they haven't tried before," Mr. Glenn said. "If my going up again can let people know that as long as you feel like doing something, try it . . . then fine."
The age thing
Mr. Glenn and his crew mates are tired of one thing: hearing reporter after reporter ask the same basic questions about the age factor. Can Mr. Glenn hack it? Did he get any special treatment during training?
The facts are that flying in the shuttle doesn't involve any extreme physical requirements. It requires basic good health and decent physical shape.
Any grandfather without a heart condition can find out what Mr. Glenn will be feeling during lift-off by riding a tight turn on a big rollercoaster. Passengers on the space shuttle feel about 3 Gs of chest-squeezing, face-pulling force. The soon-to-open Face/Off coaster at Paramount King's Island will generate up to 5 Gs.
So far, John Glenn has passed every test.
First he passed the physical exam - which was really the only crucial physical test. Then he was dunked in water and spun in centrifuges. He has rappelled down the side of the shuttle, crawled in and out of the shuttle's tiny hatch, and plodded around in full gravity wearing more than 100 pounds of spacesuit.
Then he passed the harder, mental tests. A ticket on the space shuttle may not require an athletic body, but it does require people to be very smart. Mr. Glenn has memorized and practiced hundreds of procedures he needs to know to do his job.
Once up there, moving around in zero gravity will be even easier for an old man.
"I may not be as flexible as this crowd to my right (his fellow crew members), but I've been able to keep up all right," Mr. Glenn said.
In one of his few chances to actually talk, mission commander Curtis Brown said: "We work hard. We play hard. I can honestly say that we had to take no breaks to let the senator catch up. At times, we had to catch up to him."
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