John Glenn, the all-American astronaut and senator who rocketed into history on flights 36 years apart as the first American to orbit the Earth and the oldest person in space, died Thursday at age 95.
(FOX)- “We are saddened by the loss of Sen. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. A true American hero. Godspeed, John Glenn,” NASA tweeted immediately after his death was announced.
Glenn died at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he was hospitalized for more than a week.
President-elect Donald Trump praised Glenn in a visit to Ohio State University: “To me he was a great American hero, a truly great American hero. I met him on two separate occasions. Liked him, always liked him. But he was indeed an American hero.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. ordered congressional flags to be lowered to half-staff.
Glenn, who was known for his small-town decency and calm heroics, was the last of the original Mercury 7 astronauts who launched the US space program. He later served for four terms as a Democratic senator from Ohio.