Born July 18, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio

Physical Appearance:
5 feet 10.5 inches tall, 168 lb.
Green eyes
Red hair

Family:
parents - Mr. and Mrs. John Glenn of New Concord, Ohio
wife - Anna Margaret (Castor) Glenn
He has a son and daughter, and two grandchildren.

Education:
BS in Engineering from New Concord's Muskingum College, 1942
BS in Mathematics from University of Maryland

Honors:
Honorary Doctorate of Science from Muskingum College
Honorary Doctorate from Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
Honorary Doctorate from University of New Hampshire
Honorary Doctorate from Wagner College
Aviation Hall of Fame and National Space Hall of Fame inductee
Member of International Academy of Astronautics
Member of many associations and boards

Astronaut John Glenn after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree for Engineering from New Concord's Muskingum College entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program.  He finished his advanced flight training in Corpus Christi, Texas.  While at training in Texas he volunteered for commission in the Marine Corp instead of the Navy, and 1943 he gained his wings.  In the same year he married his wife, Anna Margaret (Castor) Glenn.  Glenn then proceeded to join WWII effort in the South Pacific, flying 59 combat missions.  He then returned to combat in the Korean Conflict, flying several other missions.  Upon returning to the states he began his test pilot training in Navy Test Pilot School in Maryland.  He was recognized for being the first person to do a transcontinental flight averaging supersonic speeds, in July of 1957.  It took 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds.   He was then selected by NASA to be a candidate for the Mercury Project due to his participation in the Langley/ Johnsville project, development of the Mercury space program, especially designing the Mercury capsule. He was one of the Mercury Seven selected to take part in the Mercury flights, and on February 20, 1962 he made is first flight.  He made the first American orbital flight on the MA-6 Friendship 7 spacecraft.  During re-entry he experienced the loose of his heat shield but his mission was successful and he made it to Earth safely.  The flight lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds at 17, 500 miles per hour, totaling 75,679 miles in distance, 162 miles above Earth's surface.  Upon return to Earth, Glenn was greeted by President John F. Kennedy to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and there was ticker-tape parade in New York City in his honor.  After working with NASA, Glenn's next truimph was winning election to become the democratic senator for Ohio in November of 1974.  He remained senator until he retired in 1997, to focus on rejoining NASA for another space flight.  On January 16, 1998, NASA announced Glenn's appointment to the crew of the space shuttle Discovery scheduled for October 29, 1998.  At 77 years old, Glenn is the oldest astronaut to fly in space.