2016 Goodbye !!!

The Morning After....

Wine Lost :-(

Miracle on 34th Street - Holdman Christmas Lights

Miracle on 34th Street

Holdman Christmas Lights

Starry Night - Digital Art

Central Park - Bethesda Angel Fountain

Central Park
Bethesda Angel Fountain

Bethesda Terrace and Fountain overlook The Lake in New York City's Central Park. The fountain, with its Angel of the Waters statue, is located in the center of the terrace.

Bethesda Terrace is on two levels, united by two grand staircases and a lesser one that passes under Terrace Drive. They provide passage southward to the Elkan Naumburg bandshell and The Mall at the center of the park. The upper terrace flanks the 72nd Street Cross Drive and the lower terrace provides a podium for viewing the Lake. The mustard-olive colored carved stone is New Brunswick sandstone, with a harder stone for cappings, with granite steps and landings, and herringbone pattern paving of Roman brick laid on edge.

Bethesda Fountain is the central feature on the lower level of the terrace, constructed between 1859 and 1864, which is enclosed within two elliptical balustrades.

The pool is centered by a fountain sculpture designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and unveiled in 1873. Stebbins was the first woman to receive a public commission for a major work of art in New York City. The bronze, eight-foot statue depicts a female winged angel touching down upon the top of the fountain, where water spouts and cascades into an upper basin and into the surrounding pool. It was the only statue in the park called for in the original design. Beneath her are four four-foot cherubs representing Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace. 

Also called the Angel of the Waters, the statue refers to Healing the paralytic at Bethesda, a story from the Gospel of John about an angel blessing the Pool of Bethesda, giving it healing powers. In Central Park the referent is the Croton Aqueduct opened in 1842, providing the city for the first time with a dependable supply of pure water: thus the angel carries a lily in one hand, representing purity, and with the other hand she blesses the water below.

 

The base of the fountain was designed by the architect of all the original built features of Central Park, Calvert Vaux, with sculptural details, as usual, by Jacob Wrey Mould. In Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted's 1858 Greensward Plan, the terrace at the end of the Mall overlooking the naturalistic landscape of the Lake was simply called The Water Terrace, but after the unveiling of the angel, its name was changed to Bethesda Terrace.

The panels of carving in the abstracted organic style propounded by Owen Jones, a mentor of the sculptor Jacob Wrey Mould are organized by an iconographical program of themes: the Seasons, the Times of Day, the Ages of Mankind. Considerable latitude was offered the carvers executing the work, following Ruskinian principles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethesda_Terrace_and_Fountain
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Digital Art - Hands World Nature

Google Earth Timelapses Show Earth's Transformation In 30 Years

10 Extraordinary Google Earth Timelapses

Show Earth's Transformation In 30 Years
 
Earth Time Lapse View from Space 1984-2012

Google has released these astonishing images showing data collected from the Landsat satellite from 1982 until 2012.

They reveal everything from man's impact on the desert as Las Vegas expands to the retreat of glaciers in Columbia.

Google worked with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Nasa and Time to develop the site.

'Today, we're making it possible for you to go back in time and get a stunning historical perspective on the changes to the Earth's surface over time,' said Rebecca Moore, an Engineering Manager at Google.

Google Earth Shows How much the World has Changed in 30 years.

 
Earth Time Lapse View from Space 1984-2012

'Working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NASA and TIME, we're releasing more than a quarter-century of images of Earth taken from space, compiled for the first time into an interactive time-lapse experience.

'We believe this is the most comprehensive picture of our changing planet ever made available to the public.'

Google selected a range of images for the project, from the sprouting of Dubai's artificial Palm Islands, the retreat of Alaska's Columbia Glacier, the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon to urban growth in Las Vegas from 1984 to 2012:

The images were collected as part of an ongoing joint mission between the USGS and NASA called Landsat.

Their satellites have been observing earth from space since the 1970s - with all of the images sent back to Earth and archived on USGS tape drives.

'We started working with the USGS in 2009 to make this historic archive of earth imagery available online,' said Miss Moore.

'Using Google Earth Engine technology, we sifted through 2,068,467 images—a total of 909 terabytes of data—to find the highest-quality pixels (e.g., those without clouds), for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth.

'We then compiled these into enormous planetary images, 1.78 terapixels each, one for each year.

'As the final step, we worked with the Create Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, recipients of a Google Focused Research Award, to convert these annual Earth images into a seamless, browsable HTML5 animation.'

Google says the maps are 'profound images'.

'Much like the iconic image of Earth from the Apollo 17 mission - which had a profound effect on many of us - his time-lapse map is not only fascinating to explore, but we also hope it can inform the global community's thinking about how we live on our planet and the policies that will guide us in the future.

The maps use Google's Earth Engine, which brings together the world's satellite imagery, with trillions of scientific measurements dating back almost 40 years.

Google has made it available online with tools for scientists, independent researchers, and nations.

the search giant says it hopes the resource will allow people to 'mine this massive warehouse of data to detect changes, map trends and quantify differences on the Earth's surface.'

Et J'entends Siffler le Train - 500 Miles

 

Et J'entends Siffler le Train

Serge Gainsbourg

 (1974)

LYRICS :
J'ai pensé qu'il valait mieux
Nous quitter sans un adieu
Je n'aurais pas eu le coeur de te revoir
Mais j'entends siffler le train,
Mais j'entends siffler le train,
Que c'est triste un train qui siffle dans le soir

Je pouvais t'imaginer, toute seule, abandonnée
Sur le quai, dans la cohue des “au revoir”
Et j'entends siffler le train,
Et j'entends siffler le train,
Que c'est triste un train qui siffle dans le soir

J'ai failli courir vers toi, j'ai failli crier vers toi
C'est à peine si j'ai pu me retenir !
Que c'est loin où tu t'en vas,
Que c'est loin où tu t'en vas,
Auras-tu jamais le temps de revenir?
J'ai pensé qu'il valait mieux
Nous quitter sans un adieu,

Mais je sens que maintenant tout est fini!
Et j'entends siffler ce train, (bis)
J'entendrai siffler ce train toute ma vie (bis)
 
Serge Gainsbourg — J'entends siffler le train - version inédite

Les auteurs de cette chanson:

Harold Jeffries, Jacques Plante, 1962

Richard Anthony

Et j'entends siffler le train

Richard Anthony

J'entends Siffler Le Train

1962

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Serge Gainsbourg

J'entends siffler le train
(1974 version inédite)

♪♫ ♪♫ ♫ ♪♫ ♪♫ ♫ ♪♫ ♪♫ ♪♫♪♫ ♪♫ ♫ ♪♫ ♪♫ ♫ ♪♫ ♪♫ ♪♫

Les gosses chantaient...

« Et j'entend pisser le chien,
  que c'est triste un chien qui pisse dans le soir...»

«J'ai pensé : c'est sûr, il peut
Se retenir, attendre un peu
Je n'ai vraiment pas envie
D'sortir du lit !

Mais j'entends pleurer le chien
Mais j'entends pleurer le chien
Que c'est chiant un chien qui gémit dans la nuit»

 

500 Miles Away From Home

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Archives:  http://mamusiq.tumblr.com/

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500 Miles Away From Home

500 Miles Away From Home

The Kingston Trio

Lyrics

I'm 500 miles away from home
Teardrops fell on momma's note
When I read the things she wrote
She said we miss you son we love you come on home
Well I didn't have to pack
I had it all right on my back
Now I'm 500 miles away from home
Away from home away from home
Cold and tired and all alone
Yes, I'm 500 miles away from home

I know this is the same road I took the day I left home,
But it sure looks different now. And I guess I look
Different too, cause time changes everything. I wonder what
They'll say, when they see their boy looking this bad.

Oh I wonder what they'll say when I get home
Can't remember when I ate
It's just thumb and walk and wait
And I'm still 500 miles away from home
If my luck had been just right
I'd be with them all tonight
But I'm 500 miles away from home
Away from home away from home
Oh I'm still 500 miles away from home

Songwriters
BARE, BOBBY / WILLIAMS, CHARLIE / WEST, HEDY

500 Miles Away From Home
(Bobby Bare / Hedy West / Charlie Williams)
Bobby Bare - 1963

"500 Miles" (also known as "500 Miles Away from Home" or "Railroaders' Lament") is a song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival. The simple repetitive lyrics offer a lament by a traveller who is far from home, out of money and too ashamed to return.

History

The song is generally credited as being written by Hedy West, and a 1961 copyright is held by Atzal Music, Inc. "500 Miles" is West's "most anthologized song."

Some recordings have also credited Curly Williams, and/or John Phillips as co-writers.

David Neale writes that "500 Miles" may be related to the older folk song, "900 Miles," which may itself have origins in the southern American fiddle tunes "Reuben's Train" and "Train 45."

Cover versions

• The song appears on the 1961 self-titled debut album by The Journeymen; this may have been its first release.
  
• The song was heard on the February, 1962 Kingston Trio live album College Concert (a 1962 US #3).
  
• It was further popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary, who included the song on their debut album in May 1962.
  
• American country music singer Bobby Bare recorded a version with new lyrics, which became a hit single in 1963.
  
• The song was covered by Sonny & Cher on their 1965 album Look at Us. This version was played over the credits of the 1966 BBC TV film Cathy Come Home.
  
• The lyrics feature heavily in the Bob Dylan song "I Was Young When I Left Home."
  
• Dick and Dee Dee released a version of the song on their 1964 album, Turn Around.
  
• The Hooters recorded a version of this song with additional lyrics, dedicated to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. It goes: "A hundred tanks along the square, one man stands and stops them there. Some day soon, the tide will turn, and I'll be free."
  
• It has also been recorded by the Brothers Four, Glen Campbell, Johnny Rivers, Reba McEntire, Jackie DeShannon, The Seekers, Elvis Presley, The Highwaymen, The Seldom Scene, Nick Cave, Richard Anthony, Franco Battiato, Rosanne Cash, Bad Astronaut, Peter and Gordon, Eric Bibb, Hootenanny Singers, the innocence mission, Joan Baez, Takako Matsu, Justin Timberlake, The Persuasions and many others.^[10] 
  
  Recently, the song has been recorded by Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands for the soundtrack of the film Inside Llewyn Davis.

 In other languages

• Richard Anthony had a hit with a French version of the song, "Et j'entends siffler le train"  (English: "I Hear the Whistle of the Train"). It reached number-one in France in 1962.  J'entends Siffler Le Train (Jacques Plante - Harold Jeffries)

• In 1963 the German version, "Und dein Zug fährt durch die Nacht" (English: "And Your Train Goes Through the Night") was a success for Peter Beil.

• Also in German, Santiano in 2012 released a marine-themed version, "500 Meilen" on their album Bis ans Ende der Welt.

• The Swedish release by The Hootenanny Singers is titled "Så länge du älskar är du ung" (English: "As Long As You Love, You’re Young").

• In 1967 Waldemar Matuška and Helena Vondráčková made Czech cover named "Tisíc mil" (1000 Miles), which was smash hit in that year.

• An Assamese version, "Ketiyaba Bejarote" by singer Jayanta Hazarika exists, which is about a son missing his mother who is far away from him. The song was released in 1970-80s.

• There is an Indian Hindi version called "Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye" from movie Jurm (1990) sung by Kumar Sanu and Sadhana Sargam.

• Popular Bengali singer Anjan Dutta sung the song in Bengali called "Mr. Hall" in his album Keu Gaan Gaye.

• The Japanese duo Wink included it as the B-side of their 1989 single 淋しい熱帯魚 (Samishii Nettaigyo^?), under the title 背中 まで 500 マイル (Senaka Made 500 Mairu; 500 Miles Back^?).

It is sung by Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands in Inside Llewyn Davis.

"Five Hundred Miles" 
Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan & Stark Sands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_Miles

Et J'entends Siffler le Train

Joy in the Congo - A Musical Miracle

Joy in the Congo

The Congo's Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra grew from one man's dream to 200 musicians and vocalists providing joy to the mostly poor, bleak capital of Kinshasa. 
Bob Simon reports .

There's a remarkable symphony orchestra in the Congo, 200 musicians defying the poverty of their war-torn country and creating some of the most moving music we have ever heard.

PRIX MEILLEUR DOCUMENTAIRE:

" KINSHASA SYMPHONY"

Film documentaire de Claus Wischman et Martin Baer

Dans la ville de Kinshasa des instrumentistes, souvent autodidactes, interprètent les grands succès du répertoire : L'Hymne à la joie, Carmina Burana, Le Choeur des esclaves... Un mélange de chant réligieux africain et de musique classique

Cet orchestres'appelle: l'Orchestre Symphonique Kimbaguiste de Kinshasa. (OSK), unique orchestre en son genre en afrique du sud du sahara.

1 prix et 7 nominations, nominé pour le German Flim award
- AWARD NEWS: Best Arts in Film Documetary - Feature International @ Santa Rosa Int. Film Festival!
- Winners of International "Gold Panda" Awards for Documentary at the "11th Sichuan TV Festival":
- GRAND PRIX pour meilleur directeur
- Nominé dans la catégorie : Information & Culture/Special" poour : the German TV Grimme-Award 2012.
- Quatre « Prix du Meilleur documentaire » obtenus successivement au VIFF Vancouver 2010,
- Au New-York cmj Music film Festival 2010, au Bolzano Cinema festival 2011 et au Salem Film Festival-USA.
- Les deux « Prix du public » dont il dispose lui ont été décernés au Mostra Sao Paulo germanfilms 2010 et
- Au Pessac Les toiles filantes 2011.

Tandis qu'au Rhode Island film festival 2010, il avait été gratifié de celui du « Prix du Meilleur film ».

Joy in the Congo:

A Musical Miracle

There's a remarkable symphony orchestra in the Congo, 200 musicians defying the poverty of their war-torn country and creating some of the most moving music we've ever heard

The following script is from "Joy in the Congo" which originally aired on April 8, 2012, and was rebroadcast on April 20, 2014. Bob Simon is the correspondent. Clem Taylor and Magalie Laguerre, producers.

Beauty has a way of turning up in places where you'd least expect it. We went to the Democratic Republic of Congo two years ago, the poorest country in the world. Kinshasa, the capital, has a population of 10 million and almost nothing in the way of hope or peace. Until recently, there was a well-kept secret down there. Kinshasa has a symphony orchestra, the only one in Central Africa, the only all-black one in the world.

It's called the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra. We'd never heard of it. No one we called had ever heard of it. But when we got there we were surprised to find 200 musicians and vocalists, who'd never played outside Kinshasa, or had been outside Kinshasa. We were even more surprised to find joy in the Congo. When we told the musicians they would be on "60 Minutes," they didn't know what we were talking about but, still, they invited us to a performance. And tonight, we thought it would be good to hear them again.

We caught up with them as they were preparing outside their concert hall, a rented warehouse. As curtain time neared, we had no idea what to expect. But maestro Armand Diangienda seemed confident and began the evening with bang.

The music, Carmina Burana, was written by German composer Carl Orff 75 years ago. Did he ever dream that it would be played in the Congo? It wouldn't have been if it hadn't been for Armand and a strange twist of fate. Armand was a commercial pilot until 20 years ago when his airline went bust. So, like ex-pilots often do, he decided to put together an orchestra. He was missing a few things.

Bob Simon: You had no musicians, you had no teachers, you had no instruments.
Armand Diangienda: Yes.
 
Bob Simon: And you had no one who knew how to read music?
Armand Diangienda: No, nobody. Nobody.

Armand's English is limited. He preferred speaking French, Congo's official language.

Bob Simon: When you started asking people if they wanted to be members of this orchestra, did they have any idea what you were talking about?

In the beginning, he said, people made fun of us, saying here in the Congo classical music puts people to sleep.

But Armand pressed on. He taught himself how to read music and play the piano, play the trombone, the guitar and the cello. He talked a few members of his church into joining him. They brought their friends which brought more problems.

We only had five or six violins, he said, for the 12 people who wanted to learn how to play the violin.   So they took turns, he said. One would play for 15 or 20 minutes at a time. That was very difficult.

But more instruments started coming in. Some were donated; others rescued from local thrift shops -- in various states of disrepair. Then it was up to Albert -- the orchestra's surgeon -- to heal them. He wasn't always gentle with his patients, but they survived. Armand told us that when a violin string broke in those early days, they used whatever they had at hand to fix it.

Bob Simon: You took the wire from a bicycle?

Armand Diangienda: Bicycle, yes.

Bob Simon: The brake of a bicycle, and turned it into a string for a violin?

Armand Diangienda: Yes.

Bob Simon: And it played music?

Armand Diangienda: Oui.

And with every functioning instrument, more would-be musicians poured in. Before long, Armand's house became a makeshift conservatory. Armand was the dean. Every room, every corridor, no matter how small or dark or stifling was teeming with sound. Outdoors, the parking lot was a quiet spot to practice the viola.

But even this was an oasis compared to what was on the other side of the walls. The Congo is, after all, a war-torn country -- has been for 60 years. This is where most of the musicians live, on unpaved streets with little in the way of running water, electricity or sanitation. The musicians don't get paid for playing in the orchestra. Some work in the market, selling whatever they can. Very few people in Kinshasa make more than $50 a month or live past 50.

Sylvie Mbela's life has gotten even more demanding since she started in the orchestra 17 years ago. She's got three kids now. There are no daycare centers in the neighborhood, so the kids are always with her, never far from her fiddle.

But when she turns from mother to musician, she says she has left this planet. She is not in the Congo anymore.

For years, Sylvie and the orchestra played on but only in Kinshasa -- no one outside the Congo knew anything about them until 2010. That's when two German filmmakers made a documentary which was shown in Germany. It so inspired musicians in Germany, they sent down instruments and then themselves to give master classes.

For more information on the documentary "Kinshasa Symphony," click here

Opera vocalists Rolf Schmitz-Malburg and Sabine Kallhammer came to teach technique and diction. And if you ever questioned that music is the universal language, watch this a German-speaking teacher tutoring a French-speaking African how to sing an aria in Italian. But when Rolf and Sabine moved onto the full choir it wasn't so easy.

Bob Simon: Were they pleased to see you? Do you think that they said, "Oh, how wonderful we have two white people here to teach us how to play music"?

Sabine Kallhammer: They had experiences with other white people, so I can really understand that they were careful, and a little shy. But they really were open to learn.

At times they weren't sure what they were learning or why. What was this all about? The exercises are designed to loosen you up, the Germans explained and, after a while, they did.

Sabine Kallhammer: And then they started to sing for us, and then we were, like, ah--

Sabine Kallhammer: Their faces change when they do their music.

Sabine Kallhammer: I mean if you live in Kinshasa there is no culture life here, so these people have to find a way to go to some other places. Making music is one way to go on a trip, a cheap trip because you can just close your eyes, they do that very often and they are somewhere else.

Rolf moved onto the next class. That's where we met two tenors, brothers Carrime and Valvi Bilolo. They live in the countryside, 10 miles from Armand's place. They took us there. The boys' parents, two brothers and a sister share a three-room blockhouse. Carrime and Valvi certainly had to learn the importance of harmony growing up here, so by the time they met Armand, harmony was second nature.

Bob Simon: When did you join the orchestra?
Carrime Bilolo: En 2003, le 8 Novembre 2003. [Translation: The 8th of November 2003.]

Bob Simon: The 8th of November in 2003.
Carrime Bilolo: Yes.

Bob Simon: Why do you think you remember the exact date?
Carrime Bilolo: Bon c'est la naissance pour nous - [Well, he said, it's like a birth for us in this symphony orchestra, so it's a date we can't forget.]

And this is how they get to rehearsal. Six days a week, 90 minutes each way. Some would call it a trek. For them, it's a commute. When they get downtown, the last stretch is on a bus. What keeps them going? The music, always the music.

Sabine Kallhammer: They come here every day. They sing, and they go home. It's really amazing.

Bob Simon: It's pretty difficult to relate to that, isn't it?
Sabine Kallhammer: Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that anybody would do that with this conditions, in our country, no.

The boys and the choir have quite a repertoire now: Bach, Mendelssohn, Handel and, of course, Beethoven. The week we were there, the orchestra was rehearsing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Not exactly starter music, but Armand was determined to take it on and, like a good general, he reviewed all his troops.

The choir, OK. The strings? Not bad. But the full orchestra? Not quite.

French horns, he said, "You're hitting it too hard..."

"Be mindful of the echo", he told the string section.

Finally, it all came together and on the night of the performance, in this rented warehouse, Beethoven came alive. It's called the Ode to Joy, the last movement of Beethoven's last symphony. It has been played with more expertise before...but with more joy? Hard to imagine.
In the last two years since we first broadcast this story, the orchestra has been invited to perform in some major cities including Berlin, Monte Carlo, and Los Angeles. This story is also sad for us, the wonderful man who co-produced it, Clem Taylor, died a month ago.

© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Bob Simon

60 Minutes: Joy in the Congo
72nd Peabody Award Acceptance

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/music-in-the-heart-of-the-congo/

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=60+minutes+full+episodes+congo

Simon Beck's Snow Art - Banff National Park

Simon Beck's Snow Art

Simon Beck is a snow artist who creates huge designs in the snow by simply walking in a pair of snowshoes. He believes that inspiration goes before motivation, and nature's perfect patterns inspire him to create something new every time out. 

This short documentary by Flash Studio follows Beck's preparations for a piece he did in Stryn, Norway, on a day of good snow. 

Watch and join him as he catches a first glimpse of a masterpiece that, after many steps and calculations, would most likely be covered in two days.

Simon Beck Walks Day and Night

To Complete his Incredible Designs 

ProjectSnow is a spectacularly beautiful, poignant video montage of ‘Snow Art’ in motion, which intimately captures the creative journey of internationally-acclaimed snow artist Simon Beck during his first artistic exploration of North America. #ProjectSnow tells the visual story of Beck’s magnificent imprints on the pristine, mountainous landscape of Banff National Park in Alberta's Canadian Rockies - his latest winter canvas.

Through fascinating, high-definition footage shot over many, many hours – amongst bright daylight and under starlight skies and astounding Northern Lights colour - #ProjectSnow illustrates the intense intricacy of Beck’s unique work within an innovative time-lapse format. The montage also features impressive ‘light drawing’ effects, highlighting Beck’s Snow Art masterpiece through LED lighting gently retracing the artist’s steps.

Simon Beck creates perfect, detailed geometrical designs using nothing more than a traditional compass, a map drawing and a pair of trusted snowshoes to make carefully-planned tracks in the snow. In February 2015, Beck used his distinctive artistic talents and passion for orienteering to design a series of snow art drawings especially for Banff National Park.

Beck’s #ProjectSnow art series included one huge-scale creation of a beautiful snowflake – his largest-sized drawing to date - which he composed on the majestic Peyto Lake, surrounded by dramatic mountain peaks. Taking over six hours to stomp out in the snow, the design was 450 metres in size, from tip to tip. Beck then continued to take his awe of witnessing the Canadian Rockies for the very first time as inspiration to create drawings for two of Banff National Park’s downhill ski areas. A howling wolf, playing tribute to the National Park and its wild inhabitants, was created at Lake Louise Ski Resort as well as a detailed maple leaf drawing at Sunshine Village – perfectly symbolizing Beck’s first visit to Canada.
For further information on #ProjectSnow, see: http://www.banfflakelouise.com/Projec...
#ProjectSnow & #MyBanff

Cinematography by Doug Urquhart & Justin Majeczky
Music by James Everingham

x

One Man’s Walk in the Snow

Creates a Giant Masterpiece

Simon Beck Snow Art Film, tournée à Bettmeralp en partie lors du tournage de l'émission pour enfants Kika Live animée par Ben et Jess diffusée sur les chaînes allemandes ARD et ZDF.

John Glenn, First American To Orbit The Earth, Dies At 95

John Glenn
First American To Orbit The Earth
Dies At 95

Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962. With the world watching the historic and live-televised event, Glenn orbited the Earth three times in his space capsule, Friendship 7. Four hours and 55 minutes after ignition, John Glenn and Friendship 7 returned to Earth and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.

John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American aviator, engineer, astronaut, and United States Senator from Ohio. In 1962 he became the first American to orbit the Earth, circling three times. Before joining NASA, he was a distinguished fighter pilot in both World War II and Korea, with six Distinguished Flying Crosses and eighteen clusters to the Air Medal.

 

Glenn was one of the "Mercury Seven" group of military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA to become America's first astronauts. On February 20, 1962, he flew the Friendship 7 mission and became the first American to orbit the Earth and the fifth person in space. Glenn received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990, and was the last surviving member of the Mercury Seven. He also received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

After he resigned from NASA in 1964, and retired from the Marine Corps in 1965, Glenn planned to run for a U.S. Senate seat from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he first won election to the Senate in 1974 where he served through January 3, 1999.

In 1998, while still a sitting senator, he became the oldest person to fly in space, and the only one to fly in both the Mercury and Space Shuttle programs as crew member of the Discovery space shuttle. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

The first American to orbit the Earth has died. John Glenn was the last surviving member of the original Mercury astronauts. He would later have a long political career as a U.S. senator, but that didn't stop his pioneering ways.

Glenn made history a second time in 1998, when he flew aboard the shuttle Discovery to become the oldest person to fly in space.

Glenn was 95 when he died; he had been hospitalized in an Ohio State University medical center in Columbus since last week.

John Glenn stands beside a Mercury capsule during training at Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 1962.

Glenn had been battling health issues since a stroke a few years ago. His death Thursday was confirmed by Hank Wilson, communications director of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University.

President Obama said that Glenn's trailblazing showed "with courage and a spirit of discovery there's no limit to the heights we can reach together." The president said, "John always had the right stuff, inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts. ... On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, "Senator Glenn's legacy is one of risk and accomplishment, of history created and duty to country carried out under great pressure with the whole world watching. The entire NASA Family will be forever grateful for his outstanding service, commitment and friendship."

An early explorer

On Feb. 20, 1962, when John Glenn rocketed into space, it was momentous and nerve-wracking. Space travel was in its infancy. Every launch and mission captivated the imagination of America.

A few minutes after liftoff, Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule reached orbit. People listened in with excitement and awe.

"Roger, zero G and I feel fine," Glenn relayed from space. "Capsule is turning around. Oh, that view is tremendous!"

So much about space in those days was unknown. Scientists designed experiments to study whether astronauts could eat or drink in space. Doctors were concerned that human eyes would change shape, making it hard to operate during re-entry.

Then there was the technology. Rockets exploded during testing, sometimes with the astronauts watching. In 2012, on the 50th anniversary of his Mercury flight, Glenn reflected on the danger.

"It was important because of the Cold War," Glenn said at a Smithsonian forum. "It was a new step forward, and we were proud to be representing our country there. And so ... you made it as safe as you possibly could, and what little bit of risk was left, we accepted that."

Any trip to space is risky, and Glenn's mission was no exception. During his five hour, three-orbit flight, there were some tense moments after faulty warnings about his heat shield. At a post-flight news conference, Glenn was characteristically cool. "So there were some moments of doubt there as to whether the heat shield had been damaged and whether it might be tearing up itself. And this ... this could have been a bad day all the way around if this had been the case."

After the flight, he became a national hero. He befriended President John F. Kennedy and received a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

"I think John Glenn will be remembered as an actual hero at a time when heroes are often called heroes but are not," says Francis French, the author of many books on the space program's early days.

French says Glenn was basically an all-American boy with a photogenic smile and a quick wit.

"I think John Glenn is one of those people that's going to stay in the history books," he says. "And even the most cynical of history readers is going to go, 'This guy actually is what everybody says he was.' "

French says Glenn was "exactly at the right place at the right time for when America needed somebody to not only become the first American to orbit the Earth but to actually project what it meant for America to put a person into space."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/08/252101790/john-glenn-first-american-to-orbit-the-earth-dies-at-95