John Glenn, astronaut and US senator, dead at 95

Former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn has died in Ohio. He was 95.

Glenn became a national hero in 1962 when he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

WATCH: NASA pioneer John Glenn dies at 95. Mike Armstrong reports.

2:07 NASA pioneer John Glenn dies at 95

Hank Wilson with the John Glenn School of Public Affairs says Glenn died Thursday afternoon at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus.

READ MORE: Do you have the ‘right stuff’? How to become a Canadian astronaut

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WATCH: President-elect Donald Trump talks about former astronaut and Senator John Glenn who passed away at the age of 95 Thursday.

1:20 ‘A true American legend’: Donald Trump discusses passing of John Glenn

Glenn then spent 24 years as a Democrat from Ohio in the Senate and briefly made a run for president in 1984. He returned to space in 1998, at age 77, aboard space shuttle Discovery.

He was the last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.

WATCH: Florida Senator Bill Nelson informs the U.S. Senate that former astronaut and Senator John Glenn has passed away at the age of 95.

1:42 The U.S. Senate learns former astronaut and Senator John Glenn dead at 95

WATCH: Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy speaks to the U.S. Senate after learning about the passing of friend John Glenn, recalling a story of how Glenn landed a plane they were in under strong wind conditions. 

1:59 Vermont Senator reflects on the passing of friend, U.S. Senator John Glenn who died at the age of 95