John Glenn, who became one of the 20th century's greatest explorers as the first American to orbit Earth and later as the world's oldest astronaut, and also had a long career as a US Senator, died in Ohio on Thursday at the age of 95.
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 US pride after the Soviet Union’s early domination of manned space exploration. His three laps around the world in the Friendship 7 capsule on 20 February 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 honour, 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.President Obama’s Statement
As the third of seven astronauts in NASA's solo-flight Mercury programme 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 programme.
"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 hospitalised since 25 November. 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.Statement
"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 programme has since achieved and the human missions to an asteroid and Mars that we are striving towards 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.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
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