John Glenn: A Memoir
Memoir
By: John Glenn
Date: 1999
Source: Glenn, John, with Nick Taylor. John Glenn: A Memoir. New York: Bantam, 1999, 263–265.
About the Author: John Herschel Glenn (1921–) was born in Cambridge, Ohio, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943, and flew nearly 150 missions during World War II and the Korean War. In 1959, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in 1962 he became the first American to orbit the Earth. He served four terms in the U.S. Senate and in 1998 became the oldest person ever to travel in space.
Introduction
The space race that propelled John Glenn into orbit had its origins in the cold war, the hostile rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that shaped science and technology in both nations. Both had cooperated during World War II (1939–1945) against a common enemy, Nazi Germany, but after the war, the...
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1960's Science and Technology Primary Sources
The 1960's: Primary Sources
