John Herschell Glenn, Jr.

John Herschell Glenn, Jr. - Biography. United States senator and astronaut Birth July 18, 1921 Place of Cambridge, Ohio. Birth Known as The first American to go into orbit The oldest man to go into space Career 1943 Joined the Marine Corps 1956 Graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland July 16, 1957 Set a transcontinental flight speed record, flying across North America in 3 hours 23 minutes 1959 Was selected as a NASA astronaut February 20, 1962 Became the first American to orbit the earth, flying on board the Friendship 7 1965 Retired from the Marine Corps 1965 Became an executive at Royal Crown International 1974 Was elected to the United States Senate; won re-election in 1980, 1986 and 1992 1984 Unsuccessfully bid for the Democratic presidential nomination October 29, 1998 Became the oldest person to go into space, flying on board the space shuttle Discovery at the age of 77 Did You During Glenn's flight in 1962, the city of Perth, Australia turned on all its lights at midnight to greet him. The city repeated its greeting Know during his 1998 flight. Glenn is the oldest of the original Mercury astronauts. Glenn is the first Ohio senator to be popularly elected four consecutive times. Glenn flew fifty-nine combat missions in World War II and sixty-three in Korea. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.