Introduction

Who was the first American to orbit the Earth? Who was the oldest person in space? John Glenn was, of course! What else did he do, you might ask? Read on to find out.

Childhood

John Glenn was born on July 18, 1921 in New Concord, Ohio. He spent his whole childhood in New Concord and even went to college there, too. Glenn then left college in 1942 to become a U.S. Marine Corps pilot in World War II. This would help him later when he went up in space in a few more years. Then, a little while later, he went to the University of Maryland where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in science and chemistry.

Mercury Program

In 1959, Glenn and six other men were chosen to help with the Mercury Program. Glenn was chosen because of his good education, his successful service during World War II and the Korean War, and his experience as a pilot and instructor. The Mercury Program was to send an American man into space. The U.S. wanted to send a man into space because they wanted to win the space race they were having with Russia.

His Journey

Then in 1961, Glenn was announced to be the first American to orbit the Earth. He was chosen for his experience in the Mercury Program. Glenn was going to be the only man going. The shuttle he would be going in was named Friendship Seven.

Friendship Seven

Friendship Seven was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 20, 1962. Then, blast off! Friendship Seven was going, going, gone! John Glenn was orbiting the Earth. Orbiting the Earth means to go around the Earth in space in the Earth’s orbit. In space, Glenn made three orbits around the Earth. Each orbit was one and a half hours long. The whole trip took four and a half hours. Then, Glenn made a nice water landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

Senator

In 1974, Glenn ran for Senator of Ohio. Glenn was running as a Democrat. He won that election and became Senator of Ohio. He was reelected in 1980, 1986, and 1992. As senator, Glenn worked against nuclear weapons and wanted to stop wasteful money spending that the government was doing. In 1983, Glenn ran for President of the United States. He was not chosen as the Democratic candidate, though. Then, he just went on going back to being Senator of Ohio, where he served four terms (24 years) in office.

Back Into Space 

Then, in 1998, at the age of 77, Glenn was chosen to go aboard a shuttle where they wanted to test the way an older body works in space. John Glenn went up in space again in 1998, on the Space Shuttle Discovery. He would become the oldest person in space.

A difference between his first and second flights is that Glenn was alone in space on the first trip, and there were people with him on the second. They wanted people with him because he was 77 years old and space shuttles today are much more complicated to pilot than Glenn’s one-man Friendship Seven.

Some other differences between his flights are that the Discovery Mission was nine days long, and the mission on Friendship Seven was only four and a half hours. In the first trip, Glenn made three orbits around the Earth, when he made 134 his second trip. One last difference is the flights were 36 years apart (1962 and 1998.)

Retirement

Now, Glenn is retired. John Glenn has had an interesting and exciting life. I wonder what he’ll do next!