In 1962, the US is scrambling to catch up with the USSR in the Space Race and it's finally time for an American to orbit the Earth. John Glenn is the perfectly stoic character for the job, and what follows is an action packed journey into outer space, full of close calls and national propaganda. But what's it really like to be an astronaut? What's the NASA campus like? What happened to him afterwards? And how did he end of back in space at 77? Host of 13 Minutes to the Moon and ex-NASA employee, Dr Kevin Fong, joins us to talk through it all. A huge thank you to listener Mark Kelsall for convincing Kevin to come on! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices