John H. Glenn Jr. was born in Cambridge and grew up in New Concord. In his long aviation career, he flew with the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Air Force, set a speed record and shot down enemy aircraft. But he is best known as the first American to orbit the earth and, later in life, as the oldest person to fly in space.
During the Korean War, Glenn was one of a handful of Marines selected to fly USAF F-86 Sabre jets in a pilot exchange program. Glenn shot down three North Korean MiG-15 fighters and soon became known as the “MiG Mad Marine.” Following the war, Glenn was called the first “supersonic Marine” when he set a speed record flying a Chance Vought F8U Crusader coast-to-coast across the United States.
In April 1959 he was selected as one of the original seven Project Mercury astronauts. On Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn piloted the Mercury- Atlas 6 “Friendship 7” spacecraft on the first manned orbital mission of the United States. Launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, he completed a successful three-orbit mission around the Earth.
On Oct. 29, 1998, the first American to orbit the Earth made history again. Glenn became the oldest man to fly in space by serving as a payload specialist on STS-95 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Glenn spent most of his time in space participating in investigations on the aging process. Scientists recognize several parallels between the effects of spaceflight on the human body and the natural changes that take place as a person ages.
Glenn also served as U.S. Senator from Ohio for four terms.
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