the earth will always be our home planet. but what john and those astronauts did in those early days was start the process of cosmic birth. human life and life in general moving out into the universe. that s a pretty special time in history. rusty, the materials that were used for the capsule of friendship 7, really not as they were very thin. people might be very surprised to know that it was kind of miraculous that one was able to travel in that and actually or bit the earth because they weren t that strong. they were strong enough. the metal or plastic on my car today isn t very thick either. that s not one of the things that really bothered you. what tom said, blowing up on the
sell himself, and that that was very uncomfortable, the idea of serving was great. some of the things you have to do in order to get there and stay there, those are things he didn t really like. is that right, rusty? john was a man of grace. john was not someone who needed to have his name up in lights or to acquire things. he was not as you said, he was interested in being of service. frankly, the fact that he wanted to fly again was a bit selfish. he just loved space and loved flying so much that he wanted to really see what it was like to spend some time in orbit the way tom did. that he hadn t had with just three short orbits earlier in his life. he wanted to get up there. the country would happily have put john back up just because he
is also a former astronaut flying four shuttle missions and spent about 53 days in space. he is someone we turn to often for anything related to space. it s a pleasure to have you here as well. you re also the author of ask the astronaut, a galaxy of astonishing answers to questions on space flight. i know john glenn was also a big reason for you to get involved in space as well. is that not true? it s just a treat, uma to be with you today because i get to talk to one of my other heroes, rusty schweiker. even before i thought about rusty, i thought about john glenn when i was about 7 or 8 years old when john flew his 1962 flight and i bought a book from school called americansor he was one of the myth thick
eyes wide open. it was like his previous experiences in world war ii and a mig killer in korea. he knew his business and knew what the risks were. he sized them up and stepped forward. very impressive to me. rusty, i was doing doing research on you as well and i was listening to an interview where you described the experience of what it s like to step back and really behold what is before you in space and the extraordinary moment when you realize this is a view that so few will get to see. that s something john glenn talked about as well. when you describe what it s like to be in space and to be one of the pioneers in terms of nasa s great efforts to make a difference in space and be part of something quite special. i m sure one of john s biggest regrets was not being able to go outside the spacecraft on either of his flights, a space walk or extra
he asked the boss at johnson for his next ride and never got an answer. he couldn t get a flight assignment. i think after some disappointment and hesitation he decided to put his chips into the political world and pursue a chip there. he had a bathroom accident that knocked him out of his first campaign with a hospitalization. it wasn t until 7 that he became a senator. it was great to have a guy in the senate who new space policy backwards and forwards. he was a great advocate for human space exploration. i think that s where his value was most appreciated by all the astronauts. rusty, let me ask you about the training for that mission when he was a much older man. did he say it was particularly difficult for him to go through that rigorous training before he went up in space? uma, i can t speak to that directly but tom can. perhaps, tom, you can fill in the training for his second mission.