On this day 1962 the American astronot john Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. He was a United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician.
On his journey he circled the earth for 3 times. and in 1998 flew into space again at age 77.
A Marine pilot, John Glenn was selected in 1959 for Project Mercury astronaut training. He became a backup pilot for Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who made the first two U.S. suborbital flights into space. Glenn was selected for the first orbital flight, and in 1962, aboard Friendship 7, he made three orbits around Earth. After his decorated service in the U.S. Marine Corps and NASA, Glenn went on to serve as U.S. Senator from his home state.
Famed American astronaut and politician John Glenn Jr. was born in Cambridge, Ohio, on July 18, 1921, to John and Clara Glenn. When he was two years old, his family moved to the small town of New Concord, Ohio, where his father ran a plumbing business. Glenn developed an early interest in science, particularly aeronautics, and a sense of patriotism that would lead him to serve his country later in life. According to Glenn's official website, he had a very happy childhood. “A boy could not have had a more idyllic early childhood than I did,” he wrote.
After graduating from New Concord High School in 1939, he attended nearby Muskingum College. Glenn then joined the American war effort in 1942 by entering into the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. The following year, he completed his studies and was deployed as a Marine fighter pilot in the Pacific front of World War II. Glenn flew 59 combat missions in the South Pacific during this time.
After the war, Glenn continued his service in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served during the Korean War, both as a Marine fighter pilot on 63 missions and as an exchange pilot with the Air Force on 27 missions. During his military service in two wars, he flew 149 missions for which he received many honors including the Distinguished Flying Cross six times. He then enrolled in the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, and then joined the Naval Air Test Center’s staff of flyers. In 1957, the daring pilot set a new speed record for traveling from Los Angeles to New York in a flight that was dubbed "Project Bullet." He went from coast to coast in three hours and 23 minutes.
Composed by
Abhinav P Pradeep, wayanad, Kerala, India
Email:Abhinavppindia@gmail.com
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