John Glenn has been one of the pioneers of the NASA space program. He is also the last of the original seven astronauts who launched America into space. John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, has passed away and with him comes a close to the pioneer of the American space program.
John Glenn is the last survivor among the original seven pioneers of NASA's space program. Glenn has passed away last Thursday at age 95 at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn has been in the hospital for more than a week.
For much of his life, Glenn had a variety of careers. He was a pilot for two wars and would later become a test pilot. It was however as an astronaut that Glenn would be best known for. The Soviet Union then had launched ahead in the space race. America caught up with Alan Shepard, Jr. and Gus Grissom making suborbital flights. Glenn would put America ahead though when he was the first to orbit the Earth.
By the time Glenn made the historic flight, he was 40 years old on February 20, 1962. He was in space for four hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds, according to Yahoo News. It was one of his many achievements, having served as a pilot as well in both World War II and the Korean War.
Glenn was born on July 8, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio. He spent his growing years in New Concord, Ohio. He always had a passion for flying. His father, John Glenn, Sr. would come home to find him running in the yard with outstretched arms, as if in an airplane. Even after being an astronaut, he still flew and had a private plane until he was 90 years old.
As a fighter pilot during World War II he flew in 59 combat missions. He would often fly low, as he recounted years later, even during the Korean War. Later on he would break the transcontinental speed record in three hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds flying from Los Angeles to New York City, as Phys Org reports.
John Glenn was also into politics. He first got into politics after the Kennedys introduced him to it. He served as Ohio's senator for 24 years, longer than any other one in Ohio's history. After serving as senator, he again went on another space mission, this time on the space shuttle.
Glenn married Anna Margaret Castor in 1943. They had two children, Carolyn and John David. Much of the life of John Glenn has been storied as a pilot, an astronaut and a politician. John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, has passed away. The dreams of going to Mars has been set back for some, as the Mars One project has been delayed.
