John Glenn

John Herschel Glenn Jr. was an American Marine Corps fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut, and United States Senator whose courage and patriotism made him an enduring national hero. Flying 149 combat missions in World War II and the Korean War, Glenn set a transcontinental supersonic speed record in 1957 during Project Bullet, flying from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.

In 1959, Glenn was selected as one of the 'Mercury Seven'—America's inaugural astronauts. On February 20, 1962, aboard the capsule Friendship 7, Glenn launched into orbit atop an Atlas rocket, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, circling the globe three times and restoring American confidence in the Space Race. Glenn went on to serve as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio for twenty-four years (1974–1999). In October 1998, at age seventy-seven, Glenn returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95), becoming the oldest human ever to fly in space.