Into the unknown with John Glenn on the Discovery Channel
John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, died Thursday at 95. Glenn was part of Mercury Seven, NASA’s select group of seven astronauts to make the first journeys to space. In a tiny space capsule called the Friendship 7, Glenn circled Earth for almost five hours. He gained instant fame on his return.
But after the mission, Glenn switched gears, leaving NASA to begin a political career in his home state of Ohio. He served as a U.S. senator for 24 years, and authored bills to slow the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. His passion for space travel, however, never truly subsided. Years later, he returned to space at age 77 to help test the effects of space travel on the elderly.
To honor his legacy, the Discovery Channel will air an encore episode of “When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions” this Sunday. The documentary miniseries tells the story of space exploration in the United States, featuring interviews with astronauts who recount the excitement and danger of traveling into the unknown.
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