With a much longer history than the U.S space program or even the aging former U.S. senator from Ohio, "Godspeed" (which dates to 1470 AD, or earlier) comes from the Middle English phrase God spede you, meaning may God prosper you. Spede came from the Olde English spedan, which meant success, not fast travel. It is a wish for a prosperous journey, success, and good fortune. At one time, it was also used to mean in the nick of time.
On February 20, 1962, just before 9:47 a.m. EST and soon after the flight team had given their A-OK's, this soundbite crossed the airwaves. Though not quite as well known as Neil Armstrong's "The Eagle has landed" and "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," backup pilot Scott Carpenter's three-word wish for success to the pilot of Friendship 7 made its own mark on history.
John Glenn's first space flight was a history-making event. It was the first time an American had orbited the Earth. And instead of making a single orbit as Yuri Gagarin had done the previous April, Glenn completed three orbits.
When payload specialist Glenn makes his second flight into space (scheduled for Thursday, October 29, at 2 p.m. EST), it will be a very different experience. He will enjoy much more spacious accommodations (the crew compartment is over 64 times larger) than on the cramped 9- by 7-ft Mercury capsule, and Discovery will fly him 3.6 million miles (almost 50 times farther than he traveled 36 years ago). This time the goals go far beyond orbiting the Earth. NASA expects to acquire especially valuable medical data for aging research because Government medical records on the 77-year-old Glenn date back to his days as a Marine combat pilot in World War II.
We wish him and the rest of the STS-95 crew a prosperous journey, success, and good fortune. As Scott Carpenter did 36 years ago, we wish John Glenn Godspeed.
Find out about Senator Glenn's career:
http://shuttle.nasa.gov/sts-95/crew/glenN.cfm
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Last updated: 1/20/2009