John Glenn

In 1943, he married his long-time girlfriend and childhood sweetheart, Anna Margaret Castor. They have two children.

He is believed to be a ‘Freemason’. He is also a member of the Masonic youth group, ‘DeMolay International'.

In 1962, a documentary film based on his life and achievements titled ‘The John Glenn Story', was directed by Michael R. Lawrence. The film earned an Academy Award nomination.

John Herschel Glenn, Jr. was born in Cambridge, Ohio, U.S. His parents were John Glenn, Sr. and Teresa; they raised him in the neighbourhood of New Concord, Ohio.

He attended the Muskingum College, where he studied engineering. In 1941, he obtained a license as a private pilot after he finished a course in physics and received a credit.

In March 1942, he was commissioned as a United States Navy aviation cadet and was trained at the Naval Air Station Olathe, Kansas. There, he flew his first solo military aircraft.

From 1943, he received advanced flight training at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. He was later enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corps and was assigned to work under Marine squadron VMJ-353, where he flew transport planes.

During the World War II, he was commissioned to the Pacific front, where he flew 59 combat missions. He stayed in the military even after the war and later served in the Korean War.

In 1957, he set a major new speed record after he piloted a plane from Los Angeles to New York within three hours, twenty three minutes and 8.3 seconds. It was the first supersonic transcontinental flight

In 1958, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed. The following year, he applied for the recruiting program for astronauts launched by NASA and was selected for the same. Thus, he became one of the seven astronauts to be selected.

In 1962, on board the 'Friendship 7' spacecraft, he successfully encircled the earth three times in flight duration of 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds. Even after worries about the heat shield not being attached firmly, he managed a safe landing.

He completed the mission ‘Project Bullet’ on July 16, 1957, which involved him piloting the first supersonic transcontinental flight, from Los Angeles to New York, in a Vought F8U-1P Crusader, in a record, 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.3 seconds. The journey not only recorded the first average supersonic speed but also the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States

Twice in his lifetime, he ventured out in the space, first as one of the seven astronauts and the first American who orbited the Earth three times aboard ‘Friendship 7’ space shuttle on February 20, 1962 and later being one of the crew members for ‘Discovery’ which entailed on a nine-day mission. For the latter, he became the oldest man to fly in space.