John Glenn seems to have done it all -- college graduate, distinguished war hero, first American to orbit Earth, U.S. senator, the oldest person to fly in space.
The Right Stuff pioneer was born July 18, 1921, at Cambridge, Ohio. He was graduated from New Concord (Ohio) High School, which is known today as John Glenn High School. He earned a B.S. degree in engineering from Muskingum College at New Concord. In 1943, three months into his junior year at college, John Glenn enlisted in the Marine Corps and married Anna Margaret Castor.
In World War II, the pilot flew 59 missions. Later, after two years as flight instructor, John Glenn volunteered for the Korean War, flying 63 missions and shooting down three MIGs. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross six times and several other medals.
John Glenn gained national recognition in 1957 when he set a transcontinental speed record, flying from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes. The next year, he was selected by NASA to be one of the first seven astronauts in the U.S. space program's Project Mercury.
Four years later, on February 20, 1962, Glenn became a national hero as the first American and third person to orbit Earth. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, he rode inside a capsule named Friendship 7, successfully circling the globe three times and completing his flight in 4 hours 55 minutes 23 seconds. He reached a then-amazing speed near 17,500 mph. Four million spectators lined the streets of Manhattan nine days later to give him a hero's welcome.
President Kennedy didn't want his national hero placed at risk so John Glenn resigned from the space program in 1964. For a time he was an executive with Royal Crown International, but then returned to public service in 1974 as a Democrat elected to the U.S. senate from Ohio. He was re-elected in 1980 by the largest margin in Ohio history, then again in 1986 and 1992. He also campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1984. He then retired from his senate seat in 1999.
His personal conquest of space had not ended. On October 29, 1998, John Glenn, at age 77, became the oldest person in space when he and six other astronauts were lofted to Earth orbit for nine days aboard shuttle Discovery. His mission was to test the effects of space on the elderly.
| John Glenn's Space Flights | |
| 1962 | 1998 |
|
Solo in capsule Friendship 7 |
With six others in shuttle Discovery |
| 4 hours, 55 minutes | 9 or 10 days |
| 162 miles altitude | 325 miles altitude |
|
3 orbits 75,680 miles |
144 orbits 3.6 million miles |
|
360,000 pounds thrust Maximum 8 Gs |
7 million pounds thrust Maximum 3 Gs |
JANUARY 1998
John Glenn Will Return to Space
Dinosaurs in Space
John Glenn To return To Space
John Glenn's Glory Days Are Back
FEBRUARY 1998
John Glenn Trains in Centrifuge
John Glenn Loved Space Re-Training
John Glenn Takes a Little Spin
MARCH 1998
John Glenn Links Astronauts with Elderly
APRIL 1998
Clinton Checks John Glenn's Training
Glory Days on the Final Frontier
MAY 1998
Wright Brothers Plane Part Flies with Glenn
John Glenn Is Not Just History Anymore
John Glenn on a Wheaties Box?
John Glenn Has Right Stuff at Right Time
John Glenn's Ageless Appeal
JUNE 1998
John Glenn Gets Ready - Pre-Flight Interview
JULY 1998
John Glenn Retiring to Space
Skeptics View: What Will Glenn Do For Science?
The Science of Discovery
John Glenn's Return to Space
Real science or right stuff for NASA?
Mission Quiz: Where were you in '62?
3-D models of crafts from Glenns past, present missions
AUGUST 1998
Walter Cronkite To Cover Oct. 29 Launch, Nov. 7 Landing
John Glenn Rides Again
Glenn's Launch Eagerly Anticipated
SEPTEMBER 1998
The Ohio Astronauts
Minute-By-Minute Story of the Flight
Space is at the Frontier of My Profession
Glenn hometown down-to-earth on return to space
OCTOBER 1998
Hometown watches, wonders about Glenn space return
Glenn's Senate career closes, space looms
Story Musgrave says John Glenn not working hard enough
JOHN GLENN RELATED INFORMATION
Senator John Glenn's Homepage
John Glenn's NASA Biography
John Glenn -- From Mercury to Space Shuttle
John Glenn Related Web Sites
MERCURY SEVEN INFORMATION
Project Mercury Home Page (NASA)
The Mercury Seven: Where Are They Now?
Mercury Seven now only four, but the spirit lives on