NASA Considers a Return to Space for Glenn, Now 75
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA may be warming up to Sen. John Glenn’s dream of returning to space 35 years after becoming the first American to orbit Earth.
The 75-year-old Ohio Democrat and the space agency are seriously talking about it, the Orlando Sentinel reported in its online edition.
“NASA has discussed the idea with the senator, and we are giving it further consideration,” NASA spokesman Michael Braukus told the newspaper.
Glenn flew on the Friendship 7 Mercury craft and circled the Earth three times in 1962. He has repeatedly said he would like to make a second flight as part of a study on how spaceflight affects aging.
If Glenn ends up in outer space, he would be the oldest human ever in orbit. Story Musgrave, 61, set the record last year.
For Glenn to fly again, NASA would have to change its policy against civilians in space. The policy was established after the 1986 Challenger explosion killed teacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe.
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