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To: Jacques Tootight who wrote (4809)	11/2/1998 1:10:00 PM
From: Drew Williams	Respond to of 10852

I am surprised that anyone familiar with the history of the Mercury program would doubt or belittle the heroism of any of the astronauts. Yes, there were a lot of other people who would have given their left nut (or ovary) to make the flight, but John Glenn et al actually flew the missions. Glenn was more than human cargo, too, in that due to the heat shield failure it was necessary for him to pilot the capsule. We need to remember that at that time a) the rockets were not that reliable (G* fans understand!) and b) nobody knew what effect the space environment would have on people. One example of the very real danger is how Gus Grissom and two others died later developing Apollo. In John Glenn's particular case, we should also remember he was a heckuva marine fighter pilot in Korea. Ted Williams' wing man, if anyone cares. Tom Wolfe's book, THE RIGHT STUFF, is a good primer on the Mercury program. They made a pretty good movie out of it, too.