On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became a national star.
Refusing to let that dramatic day define his life, he went on to become a four-term US senator--and returned to space at the age of seventy-seven..
He became celebrated in all corners of the world as not just the first American to orbit the Earth, but as the first space traveler to take the human race with him.
That morning at Cape Canaveral, the small-town boy from Ohio took his place atop a rocket and soared into space.
On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became a national star