John Glenn will be fondly remembered as the first astronaut to orbit the Earth but aside from this astounding accomplishment, he is also the oldest one to do so in 1998 when he was 77 years old. Most people would frown upon NASA sending a senior to space but actually, John Glenn allowed himself to become a lab rat for NASA to study the effects of space to the aging human body.

Gizmodo reported John Glenn's accomplishment in the light of his passing Thursday in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 95. Glenn was an Ohio senator as well as a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging in 1990 when he lobbied NASA to let him fly again. NASA agreed to train and assign the aging senator to Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS - 95.

In the space mission, Glenn was a Payload Specialist but actually his main mission was to see how his body would survive space. This includes how aging affects the human body in relation to zero gravity in space.

Glenn recalled that he was strapped with all sorts of leads to measure his brainwaves, respiration and heart rate. All measurements were recorded and sent to the ground for four days. Tests were done to find out how Glenn's balance, immune system, bone and muscle activity, perception, metabolism, blood flow and sleep were affected by zero gravity.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported John Glenn's death. He was hospitalized recently at the Ohio State University James Cancer Center. Glenn previously suffered from a stroke and had heart valve replacement surgery in 2014.

The first man to orbit the Earth was always reluctant to call himself a hero. He said that he was the same person as he was who grew up in his hometown of New Concord, Ohio. After his mission in 1998 and his retirement from the Senate, he lived with his wife Anna in a suburb in Washington. They were married for 73 years.

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