Astronaut John Glenn joined the stars

Legendary astronaut and former Senator John Glenn, who died Thursday at age 95, was the first American to make an orbital flight and also the oldest person to go into space in 77 years.

John Glenn was married, had two children and two grandchildren.

Shortly after the announcement of his death many personalities have praised his memory.

“John has always been the best, inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond,” said President Obama in a statement.

In February 1962 he became the first American to reach Earth orbit aboard the tiny Mercury capsule named Friendship 7 .

Mr. Glenn has recurred in 1998 at the age of 77, becoming the oldest person in space.

President Obama was awarded in 2012 the Presidential Medal of Freedom, highest civilian award in the United States, describing it as a “hero in every sense of the term.”

President Obama was awarded in 2012 the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

NASA had honored him in 1999 by renaming his name his Cleveland Research Center, Ohio State where he was senator from 1974 to 1999.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my years on this planet, this is the most happy and fulfilled people I have met are those who dedicated themselves to something greater and more deeper than their own personal interests, “he told the twilight of his career.

The first space mission of John Glenn, who completed three orbits around the planet lasted a little less than five hours, but the American was able to pride in the United States, after a first jump of chip space his compatriot Alan Shepard.

A peaceful progressive

It was then the Cold War, and Glenn and joined the Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who had first achieved this April 12, 1961.

“The Cold War was real, the USSR was expanding and it has technological superiority was unthinkable for the United States, had to catch up,” explained John Glenn.

Former Marine fighter pilot during World War II and during the Korean War, and test pilot, he left NASA in 1964, mortified that President John F. Kennedy, fearing an accident, has ordered that no returns more space this prestigious astronaut.

He worked in private practice for ten years before becoming a senator from Ohio in 1974. Enjoying a popularity unequaled, he was elected by winning all the 88 counties of the state.

He was reelected in 1980 with a historic margin, the largest in the history of Ohio, and retained his seat in 1986 and 1992.

During his Senate career, this progressive has been dedicated to the fight against arms and disposal of nuclear waste. He also made a failed attempt for the White House in 1984.

He was still a senator when he went back a second time into space in 1998. Also in great physical and mental shape 77 years, Senator Glenn flew October 29, 1998 from Kennedy Space Center aboard the shuttle Discovery space for a nine-day orbital mission designed to study the effects of aging in weightlessness.

With the disappearance of John Glenn on Thursday at the age of 95, the first seven American astronauts chosen for the pioneer space program in 1959 are now all dead, ending a glorious chapter in American history.

These seven drivers, many of whom were portrayed in the film The Fabric heroes , proved that space flights were possible and paved the way for the next generation of astronauts who set foot on the moon.

Alan Shepard

First American in space, Alan Shepard took off May 5, 1961 aboard the capsule Freedom 7 for a suborbital flight to 186 km altitude, before landing back on Earth.

He later commanded Apollo 14 in 1971 for the third lunar landing, and became the fifth man to set foot on the moon.

He died in 1998 at age 74 of leukemia.

John Glenn

First American to turn in orbit around the Earth, it has made three rotations around the planet 20 February 1962 for a flight that lasted just under five hours.

He was later elected senator from Ohio from 1974 to 1999, but was able to Regout the joys of space, at the age of 77, during a nine-day mission in 1998 aboard the shuttle Discovery .

He died Thursday at age 95. His health had declined in recent years and had especially suffered a heart operation in 2014.

Virgil “Gus” Grissom

He was the first man to be sent into space twice. He first flew on the second suborbital flight in 1961, after Alan Shepard, before driving the Gemini first mission in 1965, which was the first to change his initial flight plan.

Gus Grissom and two other astronauts died in 1967 in a fire in a space capsule during a test ground before Apollo 1, he should order.

Scott Carpenter

It was the replacement for John Glenn in case it could not fly in February 1962 and became the second American to turn in orbit around the Earth three months later, in May 1962.

After three rotations around the Earth in the capsule Aurora 7 , he missed his landing zone about 400 km.

He then left NASA and participated in a Navy program on underwater exploration.

He died in 2013 of a heart attack at the age of 88.

Gordon Cooper

He flew in 1963 on the last Mercury mission and became the last American to fly solo in space. His capsule Faith 7 turned 22 times around the Earth, a mission that lasted more than a day.

Her second space flight in 1965 aboard Gemini 5 lasted eight days, setting a record for longevity in the space for the time. Gordon Cooper has become the first American to sleep … in space.

He died in 2004 of heart failure at age 77.

Walter Schirra

He became the first man to fly over the initial three types of American spacecraft, Mercury , Gemini and Apollo .

He was commander and pilot of Gemini 6 in 1965 for the first orbital rendezvous, managing to get close to a few feet of Gemini 7 .

He also commanded Apollo 7 in 1968.

He died of a heart attack while he was treated for abdominal cancer in 2007, aged 84.

Donald Slayton

He was selected first for the first Mercury mission, but he could not fly in 1962 due to a cardiac arrhythmia. He became director of flight crew for NASA before finally receiving permission to fly 10 years later.

In 1975 he was aboard the first joint space mission with the Soviet Union Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Test Project, the first docking of US and Russian vessels in space.

He died in 1993 of a cancerous tumor in 69 years.