John Glenn (1921-2016): Space Pioneer

John Herschel Glenn Jr. (born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio,) is a former American astronaut, Marine Corps fighter pilot, and United States Senator. He was the third American to fly in space and the first American to orbit the earth. This photo for his second space flight on October 29, 1998, on Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-95. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the early 1960s, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union showed signs of boiling over.  Spy planes were shot down.  A dispute over control of Berlin led to a wall that divided the Communist East from the capitalist West.  And the presence of Soviet weapons in Cuba nearly caused a nuclear war.

There were also high stakes being played by the two countries above Earth.  The USSR launched the first satellite, and Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.  President John F. Kennedy issued his call for man to land on the moon before the end of the '60s.  NASA responded by naming seven astronauts to represent the new Mercury space program.

One of those astronauts was John Glenn, a former marine test pilot who had flown missions in World War II and Korea.  On February 20, 1962, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard the Friendship 7 capsule.  The trip took nearly five hours, and he orbited Earth three times. Upon his return, most of what was then called the Free World hailed his achievement, throwing him ticker tape parades and such.  Eventually, before the decade ended, the crew of Apollo 11 fulfilled Kennedy's challenge.

Glenn parlayed his space-hero image into a political career, representing his home state of Ohio as a U.S. Senator from 1974-99.  In 1984, he ran for President as a Democrat, but lost out to Walter Mondale.  Glenn also got caught up in the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s, having accepted a bribe from financier Charles Keating.  Glenn and John McCain of Arizona were the only Senators exonerated as part of what became known as the Keating Five.

Glenn returned to space in 1998 as part of the crew aboard the shuttle Discovery at the age of 77, the oldest person to do so.  Once again he was celebrated for his achievement, although some grumbled that he got this opportunity as a political favor.

With the Cold War over and the moon having been conquered, there's talk of sending humans to Mars and possibly other planets by 2040.  This would not have been possible without the efforts of Glenn and the other Mercury and Apollo astronauts who helped pioneer space exploration.

John Glenn died Thursday.  He spent 95 years on this planet, and a few hours above it.  Now he'll be in permanent orbit.