COLUMBUS (AP) — A bill renaming Port Columbus International Airport for former astronaut John Glenn has cleared the state Legislature.
In a gesture of bipartisan cooperation, the Republican-dominated Ohio House and Senate on Wednesday approved a bill, shepherded through the legislature by House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger of Clarksville, adding the 94-year-old Democrat’s name to Port Columbus International Airport.
The facility’s new name will be John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
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Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in 1962, and was a member of NASA’s storied Mercury Seven crew that led the U.S. into space. With Scott Carpenter’s death in 2013, he became the crew’s last surviving member.
Raised in New Concord, Ohio, Glenn flew 59 combat missions during World War II and 63 ground support missions during the Korean War.
He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, serving until 1999. Glenn returned to space in 1998, at age 77.