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College Dropout
John Glenn dropped out of Muskingum College to enlist in the US Army Air Corps. He had his civilian pilots' license from a course he had taken while in college. As part of the Army Air Corps, he was never called to duty, so he enlisted in the Navy as an aviation cadet. During advanced flight training, he transferred to the Marine Corps. This was the beginning of his career as a pilot, a career that would ultimately carry him to space and back. -
World War II
During WWII, Glenn flew a total of 59 combat mission in the Pacific. He flew an F4U Corsair, once of the fiercest fighter planes with an estimated kill ratio of 11:1. Before the end, he was promoted to captain. -
Korean War
Glenn served in the Korean War from 1950-1953. He flew 63 missions with the Marine Corps in his F9F Panther, a jet interceptor. During his second tour of Korea, he flew an F-86F Sabre for the Air Force's First Fighter Wing, totaling another 27 missions. -
Test Pilot Career
While flying in the Korean War, Glenn applied as a test pilot. He completed test pilot school at the US Naval test Pilot School in Maryland in 1954. He tested many military planes at great personal risk. His almost died on his first assignment when the cockpit of the FJ-3 Fury he was flying depressurized and the oxygen system stopped working. -
Project Bullet
Glenn and his team were trying to prove that the Pratt and Whitney J-57 could tolerate flying at combat power for extended periods. The project was named Project Bullet because Glenn would be flying faster than a bullet from a .45. He flew from Los Angles to New York in a record 3 hours and 23 minutes, the first transcontinental flight to average a supersonic speed. -
Mercury Seven Selection
After rigorous testing of physical strength and endurance, Glenn was selected as one of NASA's seven Project Mercury astronauts. He barely met the requirements, being older and without a science degree. They were to be the first Americans in space, and as such, they became instant American heroes. -
Friendship 7 Flight
Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth at the beginning of the space race. His mission lasted approximately five hours, during which time he orbited the earth three times at a velocity of 17,500 miles per hour. Before takeoff, he called his wife, Annie. "I'm just going down to the corner store to get a pack of gum," he told her. "Don't be long," she responded. -
Elected to Senate
After retiring as an astronaut, Glenn got involved in politics. He was defeated in the 1970 Democratic Senate primary, but remained active and was elected as an Ohio Senator in 1974. He served four consecutive terms, retiring in 1999. As a Senator, he won wide respect from the public for his work on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. -
Presidential campaign
Glenn had previously been a vice presidential candidate in 1976 but lost the nomination to Walter Mondale. Glenn remained in the Senate, and in 1983 announced he would be running for nomination in the 1984 presidential race. The release of the film "The Right Stuff," about the Mercury astronauts, during his campaign was heavily pushed by his team, as Ed Harris's portrayal of Glenn was seen as heroic yet humanizing. However, Glenn again lost the nomination to Walter Mondale. -
Space Shuttle Discovery mission
Glenn flew as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery mission STS-95 in 1998, making him the oldest man to fly in space. Much of the time was spent doing experiments about the similarities between the effects of spaceflight and the effects of age.
