Nearly four decades after he became the first American to orbit
the Earth, Senator John Herschel Glenn Jr.was launched into
space again as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle
Discovery on October 29, 1998.
At 77 years of age, Glenn was the oldest human ever to travel
in space. During the nine-day mission, he served as part of a
NASA study on health problems associated with aging.
The crew of space shuttle Discovery mission STS-95,
including John Glenn. On this flight, Glenn became
the oldest person to fly in space. NASA