John Glenn
1921 – 2016 American astronaut, Marine aviator, US senator
First American to orbit the Earth, later a long-serving US senator from Ohio.
- Religion
- Presbyterian
- Affiliations
- NASA, US Marine Corps, United States Senate
John Glenn was a decorated Marine fighter pilot chosen as one of the Mercury Seven, NASA's first astronauts. In February 1962 he flew Friendship 7 around the Earth three times, becoming the first American to orbit the planet and restoring national confidence after early Soviet leads. He went on to a long career as a Democratic senator from Ohio. In 1998, at age 77, he returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person to fly in space at that time.
Connections
- associate of Katherine Johnson — Asked her to check by hand the computer's orbital figures before his flight.
- associate of Katherine Johnson — He requested she personally verify the trajectory numbers for his orbital flight.
- associate of Neil Armstrong — Fellow American astronaut of the early space program.
- associate of Neil Armstrong — Fellow astronaut of the era.
In the timeline
- 1958 Project Mercury announced one of the Mercury Seven
- 1962 John Glenn orbits the Earth the orbiting astronaut