John H. Glenn Jr. left earth on February 20, 1962, and returned an American hero. His flight aboard the Friendship 7 became one of the most important in American history. He was in space for just shy of five hours, but as the pilot of Friendship 7, Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth.

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Glenn passed away on Thursday at the age of 95. His 1962 mission was an integral part of the space race.

In 1958, Glenn was selected as one of six astronauts referred to as the Mercury Seven, to participate the newly formed NASA Manned Space Program. In 1961, the U.S. sent one of the six, Alan Shepard, to be the first American in space. 

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Prior to becoming an astronaut, Glenn was celebrated as one of the best test pilots in the country, according to NASA. In 1957, the pilot set the transcontinental speed record by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.

By the time of Glenn's space mission, the Soviet Union had already sent cosmonauts to orbit the earth, and the U.S. was itching to catch up. After three years of training with NASA, Glenn became the third American in space. He orbited the Earth three times, but the mission was not without its problems. After his first orbit, a clog in the yaw attitude jet forced Glenn to abandon the automatic control system and switch to a manual fly-by-wire electrical system. In another unrelated issue, NASA controllers warned Glenn not to jettison the craft's retro-rocket pack, as they saw indications that the capsule's heat shield had loosened, which could arise as a fatal flaw for re-entry, NBC News reports. However, the problem turned out to be a sensor failure, and Glenn splashed safely into the Atlantic Ocean after re-entry. 

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President John F. Kennedy awarded Glenn with a NASA Distinguished Service Medal after his flight. His status as a national hero deemed him too important to be sent back to space for several years. Never the type to lay low, the astronaut became involved in U.S. politics and entered the Senate in 1974.

It wasn't until 36 years later, in 1998, that Glenn was given a second shot in space upon the Discovery shuttle. This mission offered Glenn another record to break. On October 29, 1998, Glenn, 77, became the oldest human to enter space. 

In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Glenn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

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