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Ohio airport to be named in honor of astronaut John Glenn

FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1964, file photo, astronaut John Glenn, center, signs an autograph before announcing his first bid to seek the Democratic nomination to run for U.S. senator of Ohio, as reporters and photographers document his arrival at Port Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio. State lawmakers in Ohio voted Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on a bill that would honor the 94-year-old former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator by renaming the facility as John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1964, file photo, astronaut John Glenn, center, signs an autograph before announcing his first bid to seek the Democratic nomination to run for U.S. senator of Ohio, as reporters and photographers document his arrival at Port Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio. State lawmakers in Ohio voted Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on a bill that would honor the 94-year-old former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator by renaming the facility as John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (AP Photo, File) FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1964, file photo, astronaut John Glenn, center, signs an autograph before announcing his first bid to seek the Democratic nomination to run for U.S. senator of Ohio, as reporters and photographers document his arrival at Port Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio. State lawmakers in Ohio voted Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on a bill that would honor the 94-year-old former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator by renaming the facility as John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (AP Photo, File)

By Associated Press 2 min read

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Astronaut John Glenn is getting an airport named in his honor in his home state of Ohio.

In a gesture of bipartisan cooperation, the Republican-dominated Ohio House and Senate voted Wednesday to support a bill adding the 94-year-old Democrat’s name to Port Columbus International Airport. The facility’s new name will be John Glenn Columbus International Airport. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. John Kasich.

Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in 1962, and was a member of NASA’s storied Mercury Seven crew that led the U.S. into space. With Scott Carpenter’s death in 2013, he became the crew’s last surviving member.

Raised in New Concord, Ohio, Glenn flew 59 combat missions during World War II and 63 ground support missions during the Korean War. As a test pilot, he flew the first supersonic transcontinental flight in 1957, setting a speed record of 3 hours and 23 minutes between Los Angeles and New York.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, serving until 1999. Glenn returned to space in 1998, at age 77.