|
 Glenn, the last surviving member of the original seven
American "Right Stuff" Mercury astronauts, died at the James
Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University in Columbus, said Hank
Wilson, a spokesman at the university's John Glenn College of
Public Affairs, which Glenn helped found.
Glenn was credited with reviving U.S. pride after the Soviet
Union's early domination of manned space exploration. His three
laps around the world in the Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20,
1962, forged a powerful link between the former fighter pilot
and the Kennedy-era quest to explore outer space as a "New
Frontier."
President Barack Obama, who in 2012 awarded Glenn the nation's
highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, said:
"With John's passing, our nation has lost an icon."
"When John Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas
rocket in 1962, he lifted the hopes of a nation," Obama said in
a statement. "And when his Friendship 7 spacecraft splashed down
a few hours later, the first American to orbit the Earth
reminded us that with courage and a spirit of discovery there's
no limit to the heights we can reach together."
President-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter the United States
had lost "a great pioneer of air and space in John Glenn. He was
a hero and inspired generations of future explorers."
As the third of seven astronauts in NASA's solo-flight Mercury
program to venture into space, Glenn became more of a media
fixture than the others and was known for his composure and
willingness to promote the program.
Glenn's astronaut career, as well as his record as a fighter
pilot in World War Two and the Korean War, helped propel him to
the U.S. Senate in 1974, where he represented his home state of
Ohio for 24 years as a moderate Democrat.
His star was dimmed somewhat by a Senate investigation of
several senators on whether special favors were done for a major
campaign contributor. He was cleared of wrongdoing.
Glenn's entry into history came in early 1962 when fellow
astronaut Scott Carpenter bade him "Godspeed, John Glenn" just
before the Ohio native was rocketed into space for a
record-breaking trip that would last just under five hours.
'VIEW IS TREMENDOUS'
"Zero-G (gravity) and I feel fine," was Glenn's succinct
assessment of weightlessness several minutes into his mission.
"Oh, and that view is tremendous."
After splashdown and recovery in the Atlantic, Glenn was treated
as a hero, addressing a joint session of Congress and feted in a
New York ticker-tape parade.
Glenn had been hospitalized since Nov. 25. He "died peacefully,"
according to a statement from his family and Ohio State
University. "He left this earth for the third time as a happy
and fulfilled person," the statement said.
"Glenn's extraordinary courage, intellect, patriotism and
humanity were the hallmarks of a life of greatness. His missions
have helped make possible everything our space program has since
achieved and the human missions to an asteroid and Mars that we
are striving toward now," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
said.
Glenn's experiences as a pioneer astronaut were chronicled in
the book and movie "The Right Stuff," along with the other
Mercury pilots. The book's author, Tom Wolfe, called Glenn "the
last true national hero America has ever had."
"I don’t think of myself that way," Glenn told the New York
Times in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of his flight. "I get
up each day and have the same problems others have at my age. As
far as trying to analyze all the attention I received, I will
leave that to others."
Glenn's historic flight made him a favorite of President John F.
Kennedy and his brother Robert, who encouraged him to launch a
political career that finally took off after a period as a
businessman made him a millionaire.
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HERO STATUS
Even before his Mercury flight, Glenn qualified for hero status,
earning six Distinguished Flying Crosses and flying more than 150
missions in World War Two and the Korean War.
After Korea, Glenn became a test pilot, setting a transcontinental
speed record from Los Angeles to New York in 1957.
The determination and single-mindedness that marked Glenn's military
and space career did not save him from misjudgments and defeat in
politics. He lost his first bid for the Senate from Ohio in 1970,
after abandoning a race in 1964 because of a head injury suffered in
a fall.
He was elected in 1974 and was briefly considered as a running mate
for Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in 1980. But a
ponderous address at the Democratic National Convention - people
walked out - caused Carter to remark that Glenn was "the most boring
man I ever met."
Glenn sought the Democratic presidential nomination himself in 1984
but was quickly eliminated by eventual nominee Walter Mondale,
Carter's vice president. His failure was all the more stinging
because he had been touted as an early front-runner.
In the Senate, Glenn was respected as a thoughtful moderate with
expertise in defense and foreign policy. His luster was dulled,
however, by a Senate investigation of the "Keating Five" - five
senators suspected of doing favors for campaign contributor Charles
Keating Jr. The panel eventually found Glenn did nothing improper or
illegal.
BACK TO SPACE
He took a leading role in seeking to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons, especially to Pakistan. He was the author of a law that
forced the United States to impose sanctions on India and Pakistan
in 1998 after both countries conducted nuclear tests.
He also was a staunch advocate of a strong military and took a keen
interest in strategic issues. He retired from the Senate in 1999.
Thirty-six years after his maiden space voyage, Glenn became
America's first geriatric astronaut on Oct. 29, 1998. He was 77 when
he blasted off as a mission specialist aboard the shuttle Discovery.
He saw it as a blow to the stereotyping of the elderly.
"Maybe prior to this flight, we were looked at as old geezers who
ought to get out of the way," Glenn said after his nine-day shuttle
mission. "Just because you're up in years some doesn't mean you
don't have hopes and dreams and aspirations just as much as younger
people do."
John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born on July 18, 1921, in Cambridge,
Ohio.
In his latter years, he was an adjunct professor at the John Glenn
College of Public Affairs.
He had a knee replacement operation in 2011 and heart surgery in
2014.
Glenn is survived by his wife of 73 years, his childhood sweetheart,
Annie Castor. They had two children, David and Lyn.
(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Additional reporting by
Irene Klotz in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Ben Klayman in Detroit;
Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney)
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