On this day in 1998 John Glenn returned to space. Back in 1959 he was chosen as one of the first seven Mercury Astronauts. On February 20th, 1962 Glenn riding aboard Friendship 7 orbited the Earth 3 times in 5 hours. Glenn turned to politics in his native Ohio. He served as U.S. Senator from 1974-99. Glenn returned to space in 1998. His mission on the flight was the study of the effect space flight had on the elderly. Glenn became the oldest person to travel in space.  Glenn is 91 and along with Scott Carpenter the only surviving Mercury astronauts.