John Glenn: The Life and Legacy of the First American Astronaut to Orbit Earth

*Includes pictures*Includes a bibliography for further reading“As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.” – John GlennToday the Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 “winning” the Race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America “won” the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today’s International Space Station and continued space exploration. In fact, the Soviet Union had spent much of the 1950s leaving the Un