John Herschel Glenn Jr.

   John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born on July 18, 1921 in Cambridge Ohio.
John Glenn grew up in New Concord, Ohio.  Here he graduated from New Concord
High School and attended Muskingum College.  At Muskingum College he acheived
a Bachelor of science degree in engineering. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,
John Glenn enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program as a pilot.  He flew during
WWII and the Korean War.  For his great duty to his country he received the
Distinguished Flying Cross six times.  After the Korean War, Glenn attended school to
become a test pilot and worked  for the Navy and the Marines.

"One of Glenn's most notable accomplishments during this period
    was the 1957 speed record he set flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes", (johnglennhome.org.).

    In 1958, the astronauts corps was being formed and John Glenn was a
natural candidate due to all of his flying experience.  In April of 1959, he was selected
to be a Project Mercury Astronaut and was assigned to the NASA Space Task Group
at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.  In 1962, the Task Force moved to
Houston, Texas and became part of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center.

    On February 20, 1962, John Glenn completed the first United States
manned orbital mission around the Earth.  This mission was launched
from the Kennedy Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The manned
vessel was named Mercury-Atlas 6 and nicknamed, "Friendship 7".  During
this mission, Glenn completed three revolutions around the Earth in 4 hours
and 55 minutes.  After his victorious space flight he continued to work
with NASA and was a backup pilot for astronauts Alan Shepard and
Gus Grissom.  He also specialized in cockpit layout and control functioning.
His experties helped to create some designs for the Apollo Project, which
was lauched later in the 1960's.

     In 1998, John Glenn once again made history aboard the STS-95 Discovery.
He became the oldest man to ever to enter outer space. This mission lasted nine days.
It included a variety of research.  The main part of research in which John Glenn was
a part of was investigations of space flight and the aging process.  During this mission
the astronauts completed 134 revolutions around the Earth. John Glenn provided 17 blood
samples while in orbit and endured many physical tests.  Once he returned home
he had to have muscle and bone tests once a month for six months.  Once Glenn
returned home to Earth he promised that he would attempt no more space flights, but
that his yearning to return to space someday might never die.

        It is amazing that the same man who was the first to orbit the Earth
        and in a way was responsible for the beginning of space travel, returned
        to space at the age of 77. There were 36 years between John Glenn's two
        spaceflights.  He broke through the spaceflight barrier for the United States.
        He set a foundation and many astronauts followed in his footsteps.

 John Glenn served as a United States senator for the state of Ohio.  He was first
elected in 1974 and served four terms before retiring from the Senate in 1998.
John Glenn also attempted a greater feat in politics, he ran for President in
1984. He ran a race in which he was defeated.