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Jan. 11, 1961: 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. (AP1961)
Jan. 27, 1962: 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. (AP1962)
Feb. 23, 1962: 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. (AP1962)
Feb. 20, 1962: 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. (AP1962)
This 1961 file photo 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. (AP1961)
Feb. 20, 1962: Astronaut John Glenn climbs into the Friendship 7 space capsule atop an Atlas rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. for the flight which made him the first American to orbit the earth. (AP1962)
Feb. 8, 1963: 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. (AP1963)
Jan. 25, 2012: Sen. John Glenn speaks during an interview 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. (AP2012)
Feb. 20, 1962: Astronaut John Glenn during his space flight in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, weightless and traveling at 17,500 mph. The image was made by an automatic sequence motion picture camera. (AP2012)
Glenn in the cockpit of a T-106 (NASA)
Glenn is suited up at Cape Canaveral during MA-6 activities (NASA)
Glenn has biosensor attached to body during training (NASA)
President Kennedy after presenting John Glenn with NASA Service Award (NASA)
Glenn tests his balance with special glasses (NASA)
Astronaut John Glenn practices insertion into Mercury spacecraft
Glenn looks into a globe in the Aeromedical Laboratory (NASA)