John Glenn is an American pioneer who first served the United States as an astronaut, and later on as a senator. He created history when he became the first American to orbit the Earth, completing three orbits in 1962. Throughout his life after the successful 1962 mission, Americans consider Glenn as one of the country’s heroes. However, his role in recent history did not end with his space exploration.
Born in Cambridge, Ohio on July 18, 1921, John Glenn’s first work was that of a military pilot. He enlisted as a United States Navy aviation cadet and trained at the University of Iowa and later on at N.A.S. Olathe in Kansas for primary training. The U.S. Marine Corps offered him to train under them while he was still completing his advanced training at N.A.S. Corpus Christi. After the completion of his training, he flew 59 combat missions in the South Pacific and shortly before the war ended, Glenn rose up in the ranks and became captain. After the war, Glenn served in the Korean War, where he cumulatively flew 90 combat missions for the Marines and the Air Force. For his service, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross honors on six occasions and the Air Medal honors for eighteen clusters, among others.
Glenn then worked as a test pilot for the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School where he tested Navy and Marine Corps jet fighters from 1956 to 1959. From these experiences, he garnered 9,000 hours of flying time. In 1957, he made a speed record of flying from California to New York for only three hours, 23 minutes and 8.3 seconds. He also created a record of performing the first supersonic transcontinental flight in the country. It also included the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of America.
In 1959, Glenn was one of the seven pilots, including Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom, that the newly-formed N.A.S.A selected for their space program. Five hundred eight pilots applied, but only seven were chosen after a rigorous series of tests and requirements. N.A.S.A. introduced the final seven, known as the “Mercury 7”, to the public in a press conference. During this time, America was in a heated space race with the Soviet Union and Glenn made a significant contribution to this in 1962.
On February 20, 1962, he piloted the Friendship 7 aircraft on the Mercury-Atlas 6 Mission. Launching from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Glenn circled the Earth three times in a flight that lasted for four hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds. It was not only in the United States where his act was recognized. When Glenn passed by Perth, Australia, the residents showed their support by turning on the lights of their houses, cars, and street lamps.
The mission was not without a glitch. In the control room, there were concerns that Glenn’s heat shield had loosened from the spacecraft, which could have led to a failed re-entry in the Earth’s atmosphere. Glenn made modifications in his re-entry procedure to avoid the possibility of his capsule burning up and he was able to make a safe landing. Glenn’s act of being the first American to orbit Earth thrice has catapulted him into a national hero. He received a ticker tape parade given to dignitaries who made significant contributions in their field. He was also awarded by President Kennedy with the N.A.S.A. Distinguished Service Medal on February 23, 1962. The American pioneer became friends with the Kennedys and then-President Kennedy convinced him to lead a life in public service. Glenn continued to work for NASA until January 16, 1964. The following day, he announced his plan to run for the U.S. Senate under the Democrat party.
However, his political career was thwarted after he suffered a concussion in February 1964, and led him to withdraw from the March senatorial race. He went on a leave from the Marine Corps to facilitate his recovery and on January 1965, he retired from the Marines as a Colonel. Glenn again made an attempt to run for office in 1970 but was defeated in the nomination for the Democrat primary by Howard Metzenbaum. He challenged the latter in 1974 and got the votes in the primary race after the success of his “Gold Star Mothers” speech. In the general election, he defeated Ralph Perk. This was the start of his Senate career that lasted until 1999.
He served for four terms in Congress and was the chief author of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978. He also held several posts in committees including Foreign Relations, Armed Services and the chairmanship of the Committee on Governmental Affairs. He was also the ranking minority member during the special Senate investigations of the alleged illegal foreign donations by China during the 1996 election. In 1976, he was a candidate for the vice presidential nomination, but lost to Walter Mondale. In 1984, Mondale defeated him again for the presidential nomination under the Democrat party. In 1998, Glenn decided against his re-election and retired from the Senate in 1999. Throughout his political career, his focus was on nuclear proliferation, space exploration, wasteful spending by the government and the importance of education.
On October 1998, Glenn went back to NASA and was the oldest person to go to space at the age of 77. The Discovery STS-95 nine-day mission investigated the relationship between space flight and aging, among many other goals. In 1998, Glenn helped establish Ohio State University’s John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy as a way to encourage the ideology of public service. Today, it is known as the John Glenn College of Public Affairs after the institute merged with the university’s School of Public Policy and Management in 2006. In 2012, President Obama presented Glenn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
At the age of 95, one might say that John Glenn has lived a full life. But more than that, Glenn remains one of the country’s biggest testaments to the American dream- that in this time and age, a hero lives on. His acts of service to the nation did not end when he became a pioneer in his field. Instead, he forged a life in public service. And at the age of 77, when everyone thought that he was too old to do something significant, he became the oldest person in space.
