This week, we marked the 50th anniversary of Colonel John Glenn becoming America’s, and the free world’s, first Astronaut to travel into space and orbit Earth. While many worked and sacrificed to make his mission a success, ultimately, it was Col. Glenn who climbed into the Friendship 7 Capsule and ventured into the unknown.
Before his service as an astronaut he was a highly decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean Conflict. Glenn also went on to serve our nation as a United States Senator from the State of Ohio. He is a true American Hero.
His words yesterday were piercing. He said of our reliance on the Russians for access to the International Space Station, “And yet here we are these 50 years later, [paying] 60-some million dollars per astronaut to go up there and back. And this is supposed to be the world’s greatest space-faring nation.”
Despite the budgetary challenges we face, we must find a way to restore our nation’s leadership in space. We must honor the sacrifices he and many others made to make our nation’s space program the finest in the world.
