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John Glenn's Influence Still Felt Strongly In Colorado's Science Community

DENVER (CBS4) - Famed astronaut and politician John Glenn passed away on Thursday. Glenn was an American hero, and his success started with being a pilot.

He enlisted right after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He flew more than 150 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. But being the first American to orbit the planet is what inspired generations of people, particularly here in Colorado.

John Glenn
John Glenn (credit: CBS)

"The Mercury 7 were still the iconic heroes for what it was to be American or to be human," said Lockheed Martin employee Rob Chambers.

Glenn shot into space and circled the planet in 1962.

"John's (mission) was very monumental," Chambers told CBS4.

"That was the beginning of really learning that humans could live off of the planet."

Chambers says one of the reasons he's now a project leader at Lockheed Martin is because of Glenn.

John Glenn
John Glenn (credit: CBS)

"I think this afternoon a lot of folks gathered around the water cooler mourning the loss of an American hero," he said.

University of Colorado professor Dr. Waleed Abdalat was formerly the chief scientist at NASA, and had similar feelings about Glenn and the Mercury 7 crew.

"They're certainly the pioneers of the human space program," he said.

Waleed Abdalat
Dr. Waleed Abdalat (credit: CBS)

"They were at the tip of the spear of human ingenuity. Of human exploration."

Abdalat said "their place in history will be one of opening the doors and breaking certain barriers."

John Glenn
John Glenn (credit: CBS)

Colorado is now one of the hubs for space exploration and science, and CU has been a leading producer of astronauts. It's a history that started with pioneers like Glenn.

"(There's) a sense of loss, but also a kind of a sense of celebration at what he accomplished," Chambers said.

Glenn was always an advocate for human space travel and the scientific data gathered during his return to space two decades ago at the age of 77 is still being used in planning for future missions that's taking place in Colorado.

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