Today we lost an American pioneer. We pay some respect.
We celebrate the life of Astronaut and long time Senator John Glenn, who died today at the age of 95. Glenn was the last living member of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Glenn had been hospitalized in an Ohio State University Medical Center as of last week. He was the first man to orbit earth, and was also the oldest person to fly in space.
Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., in his Mercury flight suit.
John H. Glenn, Jr. - NASA Project Mercury Astronaut. In April of 1959, John Glenn was selected as a member of the first group of astronauts, the "Mercury Seven." He was joined by Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.
Mercury astronauts John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. Grissom and Alan B. Shepard Jr. standing by the Redstone rocket in their spacesuits.
John Glenn and Scott Carpenter go over the flight plan for the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission at Cape Canaveral, Florida in May 1962.
Astronaut John Glenn inspects artwork that will be painted on the outside of his Mercury spacecraft, which he nicknamed Friendship 7. On Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn lifted off into space aboard his Mercury Atlas (MA-6) rocket to become the first American to orbit the Earth. After orbiting the Earth 3 times, Friendship 7 landed in the Atlantic Ocean, just East of Grand Turk Island in the Bahamas. Glenn and his capsule were recovered by the Navy Destroyer Noa, 21 minutes after splashdown.
July 18, 2011, is John Glenn's 90th birthday. On Feb. 20, 1962 at 9:47 am EST, Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14 to become the first American to orbit the Earth. In this image, Glenn enters his Friendship 7 capsule with assistance from technicians to begin his historic flight.
Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr., pilot of the Mercury Atlas 6 (MA-6) spaceflight, poses for a photo with the Mercury "Friendship 7" spacecraft during preflight activities.
Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) space flight, enters the Mercury "Friendship 7" spacecraft during the MA-6 pre-launch preparations at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., undergoes a simulated orbital flight as part of his training for Project Mercury in the Manned Spacecraft Center's procedure trainer at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, Nov. 29, 1961.
Dr. von Braun briefs Astronaut John Glenn in the control room of the Vehicle Test Section, Quality Assurance Division, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. With the Feb. 20, 1962 launch of the MA-6 spacecraft, Friendship 7, atop an Atlas vehicle, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
The original Mercury astronauts are pictured around a table admiring an Atlas model. Standing, left to right, are Alan B. Shepard Jr., Walter M. Schirra Jr., and John H. Glenn Jr.; sitting, left to right are Virgil I. Grissom, M. Scott Carpenter, Donald Slayton, and L. Gordon Cooper Jr. Photo by Bill Taub.
On April 9, 1959, NASA's first administrator, Dr. Keith Glennan, announced the names of the agency's first group of astronauts at a news conference in Washington, D.C.
In February 1962, Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. looks into a globe, technically the "Celestial Training Device" at the Aeromedical Laboratory at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Astronaut John H. Glenn in the cockpit of a T-106 preparing for training exercises in flight proficiency.
Guenter Wendt, the original pad leader for NASA's manned space program, coaxes a smile out of astronaut John Glenn after the MA-6 mission was scrubbed.
John Glenn's Friendship 7 spacecraft launches on a Mercury-Atlas rocket on Feb. 20, 1962.
A camera onboard the "Friendship 7" Mercury spacecraft photographs astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. during his historic flight on February 20, 1962.
On Feb. 20, 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr., became the first American to orbit Earth.
President John F. Kennedy, astronaut John Glenn and General Leighton I. Davis ride together during a parade in Cocoa Beach, Fla., after Glenn's historic first U.S. orbital spaceflight.
Astronaut John H. Glenn sits in a car in front of the east side of the Mercury Mission Control building. Glenn was the pilot for the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission aboard Friendship 7, which launched Feb. 20, 1962.
The crew of space shuttle Discovery mission STS-95, including John Glenn. On this flight, Glenn became the oldest person to fly in space. The nine-day mission supported a variety of research payloads, including experiments designed to investigate similarities between aging and the side effects of space flight.
On February 20, 2013, we remember the 51st anniversary of the flight of Friendship 7, which vaulted NASA astronaut John Glenn into space to orbit the Earth for the first time in history. Last March, Glenn spoke to a Cleveland audience during the 50th anniversary celebration.
John Glenn receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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