Godspeed John Glenn

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of former astronaut John Glenn.

Glenn was an American icon first as a decorated war veteran, then as a Mercury astronaut and the first American to orbit the Earth, then as a successful US senator, and finally, at the age of 77, as the oldest person to ever fly into space.

Glenn’s career began when he enlisted with the US Navy in 1942. It was here he learnt to fly, qualifying for both transport and combat aircraft. Flying over 149 missions in World War II and the Korean War he gained substantial experience which led him to become a test pilot in 1954. For the next four years, he helped push the development and testing of American aircraft, clocking up nearly 9000 hours of flight time. In 1958 Glenn was selected as one of the original Mercury astronauts for the newly-formed US space agency, NASA. His recruitment almost didn’t happen as he did not possess a science degree, which was required in the early days of the Astronaut Corps.

In 1962 John Glenn made history with what he called the ‘best day of his life’ as he became the first American to orbit the Earth. On 20 February 1962 Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This five-hour mission saw Glenn successfully orbit the Earth three times before returning safely to Earth. He landed to a hero’s welcome and his mission has been seen as a turning point in the space race between America and the Soviet Union.

During Glenn’s time at NASA he also worked on the cockpit layout for the Mercury and Apollo missions before retiring in 1964. He quickly re-entered public life by running for US Senator for the state of Ohio, a seat he held for 25 years.

Despite early retirement from NASA, Glenn made a return to space in 1998. At the age of 77 he flew on Space Shuttle Discovery as part of STS-95. This flight added yet another accolade to Glenn’s already impressive resume as he became the oldest astronaut ever to fly and the only person to have flown both in a Mercury capsule and the Space Shuttle.

Over his long and varied career, John Glenn constantly proved that he ‘had the right stuff’. Above and beyond his record-breaking feats of flight and space, Glenn had a warmth, charisma, and patriotic sense of duty that made him an American sweetheart.