Astronaut Frank Borman, who commanded Apollo 8's historic Christmas 1968 flight that circled the moon 10 times & paved the way for the lunar landing, has died.
Retired former NASA astronaut Col. Frank Borman, who commanded the Apollo 8 mission that was the first to take humans around the Moon in 1968, died Tuesday at age 95
remember his bravery. think about this. he s sitting on a rocket that had failed twice in some of the previous tests and nobody had ever done that before. he s going at this incredible speed and he s looking out the window and admiring the view. reporter: glenn celebrated as an american hero, earning the congressional space medal of honor. his legacy so great the government decided he was too valuable to risk in another spa spaceflight. glenn retired from nasa in 1964 and won a senate seat in 1974 representing ohio, where he served for 24 years. in 1984, he ran for president. with the nomination of my party, i firmly believe i can beat ronald reagan. reporter: he lost the democratic nomination, but went on to succeed in a new endeavor. after 36 years, glenn s dream of returning to space had finally come true. proving at age 77 he had one more mission left in him. glenn became the oldest person
1957. after orbiting the earth three times, glenn wanted to get back to space, but john kennedy would not allow that to happen. in 1974, he was elected to the first of four terms in the senate from his home state of ohio. he was awarded the congressional space medal of honor in 1978 and the presidential medal of freedom in 2012. in a statement on thursday, the man who awarded him that medal, president obama, said this. john always had the right stuff. inspiring generations of scientists and engineers and astronauts to take us to mars and beyond. the last of america s first astronauts has left us, but we know that our future here on earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens. on behalf of a grateful nation, godspeed, john glenn.
astronaut in mission control uttered some of the most memorable words. god speed, john glenn. three revolutions and four hours and 55 minutes later he returned an instant legend. he was awarded the congressional space medal of honor and new york threw him one of its signature ticker take pa raise. later in life he would poke fun at the risk. we used to joke about it in the past when people said what do you think about on the launch pad. the standard answer was, how do you think you would feel if you were on top of two million parts built by the lowest bidder on a government contract. glenn s success bolstered american s spirit and gave credence to john kennedy s promise to put men on the moon. j.f.k. ordered him not to fly again, he was too valuable an american figure. he resigned in 1964. i didn t much care for the