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Overall view of the graphics at the center of the John Glenn display. It reads

John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field^*

Tribute to an American Hero

John Glenn's Orbital Flight

On February 20, 1962 John H. Glenn, Jr. made his historic space flight in Friendship 7. Glenn was the first American to achieve orbital flight. His flight lasted almost five hours, all but seven minutes being in weightlessness. His Mercury capsule was launched aboard an Atlas Rocket.

John Glenn's Return to Orbit

John Glenn joined the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery for mission STS-95 (October 29, 1998 to November 7, 1998). With his previous space flight history and his extensive medical records, Glenn's role as a Payload Specialist provided researches opportunities to solve some of the mysteries associated with space flight and the aging process.

* Recall that GRC was previously known as Lewis Research Center (after George W. Lewis, a former head of the NACA) and was renamed to Glenn in 1999.