John Glenn is gone - BBC

 

John Glenn death: Trailblazing US astronaut was 95

• 8 minutes ago
              

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption At age 77 Glenn became the oldest man to travel to space

Former astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, has died aged 95.

The ex-Marine and US Senator is best known for circling the earth in 1962 aboard a space capsule dubbed Friendship 7.
Glenn had been in hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for more than a week and died surrounded by his children and wife of 73 years.
He is expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
Obituary: John Glenn

"Though he soared deep into space and to the heights of Capitol Hill, his heart never strayed from his steadfast Ohio roots. Godspeed, John Glenn!" Ohio Governor John Kasich said in a statement.

Mr Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth              

Upon returning to Earth, Glenn served the US Senate as a Democrat for 25 years.
In 1998, 36 years after his historic flight, he became the oldest man to travel to space at age 77.
The only son of a master plumber and a schoolteacher, he was born in New Concord, Ohio, in 1921.
He became a combat pilot, serving in World War II and the Korean War before joining America's space agency.

Image copyright NASA

Image caption Glenn prepares to orbit the earth

After setting the transcontinental flight speed record as a test pilot, he joined Mercury 7, America's first class of astronauts.
On 20 February 1962, he blasted off from a Cape Canaveral launch pad aboard a cramped capsule on an Atlas rocket to a new frontier for Americans.
He spent four hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds in space.
Seeing the Earth from 100 miles above, he famously quipped: "Oh, that view is tremendous!"

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption President Obama presents John Glenn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

An operator in the Nasa control room told him: "You are very lucky".
He replied: "You're right. Man, this is beautiful."
In 2011, Glenn received the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian award.
A year later, President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Paying tribute to the late astronaut, President Obama said in a statement: "John spent his life breaking barriers, from defending our freedom as a decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, to setting a transcontinental speed record, to becoming, at age 77, the oldest human to touch the stars."
Also reacting to news of Glenn's death, Nasa tweeted that he was "a true American hero".
"Godspeed, John Glenn. Ad astra", it added, with a Latin phrase that means, "to the stars".