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john herschel glenn jr began his flying

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career during world war ii flying 59

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combat missions in the south pacific he

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flew another 63 combat flights during

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the korean war and earned the

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distinguished flying cross six times he

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later became a test pilot for marine and

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naval aircraft and in 1957 set the speed

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record for flying from los angeles to

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new york in 3 hours and 23 minutes his

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experience made him an ideal candidate

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for a fledgling civilian space agency

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created in 1958 and in 1959 john glenn

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was selected as one of nasa's original

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seven mercury astronauts his orbital

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flight in february 1962 gave new wings

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to america's spirit

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until then the united states lagged

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behind the soviet union in human space

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flight flynn's flight put us back on

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track and america never looked back

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glenn was and still remains a national

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hero