John Glenn, one of the most important figures of America’s early space program who in 1962 became the first American to orbit the earth, has died following an unspecified illness. He was 95. His death was confirmed today by Ohio Governor John Kasich. Glenn, a World War II and Korean War Veteran, would follow his time as an Astronaut with a successful political career, serving as a Democratic Party U.S. Senator for the state of Ohio from 1974 to 1999. He would also continue to serve the cause of space science well into his 70s, flying as a Payload Specialist on the 1998 Discovery mission STS-95 at age 77.
Glenn was a member of the “Mercury Seven”, a group of military test pilots tapped by NASA in 1959 as America’s first astronauts that also included Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. The astronauts became instant celebrities and symbols of American scientific prowess during the height of the Cold War.
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