John Glenn, who made history twice as the first American to orbit Earth and the first senior citizen to venture into space, died on Thursday at the age of 95.
Glenn became a symbol of strength and the nation’s pioneering spirit, drawing admirers from all walks of life over a long career in the military, then NASA and the US Senate.
He was chosen along with six other military pilots as part of the “Original Seven,” the first class of US astronauts in 1959 whose saga was recounted in the classic movie The Right Stuff.
Photo: Reuters
Glenn died at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.
The cause of death was not immediately announced.
“With John’s passing, our nation has lost an icon and Michelle and I have lost a friend,” US President Barack Obama said. “John always had the right stuff, inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond — not just to visit, but to stay.”
The former astronaut and veteran of two wars had been in declining health, undergoing heart-valve replacement surgery in 2014 and reportedly having a stroke.
US president-elect Donald Trump paid his own tribute, telling a rally later in Iowa: “He was a giant among men, and a true American legend.”
The first man to orbit Earth was Russia’s Yuri Gagarin in 1961. On Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn became the first American to accomplish the same feat, uttering the memorable phrase: “Zero G and I feel fine.”
Glenn’s flight lasted just under five hours and he circled the Earth three times, as part of NASA’s Mercury project.
Thirty-six years later, on Oct. 29, 1998, he made history again when he returned to space at the age of 77 — becoming the oldest astronaut in space.
In 2012, Obama awarded Glenn the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.
“The last of America’s first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens,” the president said in his tribute to the late legend. “On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn.”
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