Public hails hero of space, politics

“Today we lost a great pioneer of air and space in John Glenn. He was a hero and inspired generations of future explorers. He will be missed.”—Presidentelect Donald Trump, on Twitter

“By his inspirational leadership spearheading our space program, John helped push back the horizon of discovery.”—Former President George H.W. Bush, on Twitter

“With the news today I’m saddened again to hear that we have lost the pioneer of space flight for the United States, second only to Yuri Gagarin, and he will always go down in history as certainly one of the most influential officers in the Marine Corps and of course as one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.”—Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon

“Glenn’s extraordinary courage, intellect, patriotism and humanity were the hallmarks of a life of greatness. His missions have helped make possible everything our space program has since achieved and the human missions to an asteroid and Mars that we are striving toward now.”—NASA Administrator Charles Bolden