On: John Glenn has died

[astrodust]

It's like Chuck Yeager says, any landing where you survive is a great landing, and any landing where the plane can fly again is exceptional.

He flew a firecracker over the speed of sound. That thing could have easily exploded when it hit that velocity due to unpredicted aero loading.

Test pilots are made of sterner stuff than just about everyone else on the planet, but they're not ignorant of the risks.