President Trump, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Other Celebrities Mourn Over Astronaut and Senator John Glenns Death
He was reportedly sent to Ohio State University medical center in Columbus since last week. Ohio Governor John Kasich confirmed the news of his death. It was confirmed too by Hank Wilson, the communications director of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University.
Born John Herschel Glenn Jr., he was born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio. His education includes primary and secondary schools in New Concord, Ohio. He received a bachelor of science degree in engineering from Muskingum College in New Concord. That college is among the nine colleges or universities that awarded Glenn honorary doctoral degrees.
A modern American space hero, Glenn made history in 1998 when he boarded the shuttle Discovery, making him the oldest person to be in space. Glenn flew on the STS-95 Discovery shuttle flight, a nine-day mission in which the crew supported a variety of research payloads. This includes deployment of the Spartan solar-observing spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, and Glenn's investigations on space flight and its aging process.
Before that, he was known to have orbited the planet for about 100 times. When most astronauts were assigned to give pilot input for the design and development of spacecraft, Glenn had a different task. He specialized in cockpit layout and control functioning, like some of the premature designs for the Apollo Project.
He was also a senator for the US and tried his luck for presidency but surrendered due to strong competition. He was also considered as one of the Senate's best experts on technical and scientific matters. Glenn won wide respect for his work in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Glenn also took pride in using his position on the Governmental Affairs Committee to get the waste in government and to clean up US's nuclear materials production plants. Glenn had been in battle with his health issues ever since he suffered from stroke a few years ago. Still, it was a day for shock and mourning among people.
US President-elect Donald Trump already gave his condolence to Glenn. Other scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson and other celebrities also lamented this huge American loss.
Today we lost a great pioneer of air and space in John Glenn. He was a hero and inspired generations of future explorers. He will be missed.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016
Aren’t many Heroes left: WWII & Korean War Fighter Pilot. Marine Colonel. NASA Astronaut. Senator. Married 73 yrs. John Glenn RIP 1921-2016 — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 8, 2016
RIP John Glenn! Thank you showing to the Americans that anything is possible.
