This Feb. 20, 1962 photo made available by NASA shows astronaut John Glenn during his space flight in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, weightless and traveling at 17,400 mph. The image was made by an automatic sequence motion picture camera.

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This Jan. 25, 2012 photo shows Sen. John Glenn at his office in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around the planet three times in 1962. Glenn, as a U.S. senator at age 77, also became the oldest person in space by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998.

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This 1961 file photo provided by NASA shows the original seven Mercury astronauts in their silver spacesuits. First row, from left are Walter Schirra Jr., Donald Slayton, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. In the back row are Alan Shepard, Jr., Virgil Grissom and Gordon Cooper.

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In this Feb. 23, 1962 file photo, astronaut John Glenn, left, and President John F. Kennedy, center, inspect the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule which Glenn rode in orbit. At right is Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Kennedy presented the Distinguished Service Medal to Glenn at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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This 1961 file photo provided by NASA shows the original seven Mercury astronauts in their silver spacesuits. First row, from left are Walter Schirra Jr., Donald Slayton, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. In the back row are Alan Shepard, Jr., Virgil Grissom and Gordon Cooper.

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In this Feb. 20, 1962 file photo the Atlas rocket carrying the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla., piloted by Col. John Glenn Jr. - the first American to orbit the earth. Glenn orbited three times around the globe at 17,400 miles an hour.

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In this Feb. 20, 1962 file photo the Atlas rocket carrying the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla., piloted by Col. John Glenn Jr. - the first American to orbit the earth. Glenn orbited three times around the globe at 17,400 miles an hour.

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In this Friday, May 10, 1963 file photo, astronaut John Glenn performs a test in the telemetry control room aboard the NASA tracking ship, the Coastal Sentry, with the Mercury communication center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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In this Jan. 11, 1961 file photo, Marine Lt. Col. John Glenn, in a space flight suit, reaches for some of the controls inside a Mercury capsule procedures trainer as he shows how the first U.S. astronaut will ride through space during a demonstration at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research Center in Langley Field, Va.

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In this Feb. 23, 1962 file photo, astronaut John Glenn, left, and President John F. Kennedy, center, inspect the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule which Glenn rode in orbit. At right is Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Kennedy presented the Distinguished Service Medal to Glenn at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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In this Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998 image made from video provided by NASA, U.S. Sen. John Glenn, right, speaks to mission control during an experiment, assisted by astronaut Scott Parazynski, left, as Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque eats from a food packet aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

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In this Feb. 8, 1963 file photo, astronaut John Glenn sits with models of the Mercury spaceship atop its launch rocket and a lunar module, representing the past and the future of space exploration as he talks about the first anniversary of his historic flight.

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In this Jan. 27, 1962 file photo, astronaut John Glenn stands on the 11th deck of the service tower after his orbital attempt was postponed at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Reflected in his chest mirror is the spacecraft from which he has just emerged.

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In this Friday, Sept. 23, 1977 file photo, Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, center, speaks to a group of Youngstown, Ohio Steelworkers on the steps of the Capitol in Washington. The group is urging the government to curb steel imports and to relax pollution control requirements.

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In this Feb. 26, 1962 file photo, Mercury astronaut John Glenn, and his wife, Annie, ride in the back of an open car with Vice-President Johnson during a parade in Glenn’s honor in Washington. The Capitol is seen in the background.

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