American Public Television Documentaries

JOHN GLENN: A LIFE OF SERVICE chronicles the extraordinary life and career of an American legend. The documentary surveys Glenn's distinguished military, NASA and political careers through archival footage and interviews with lawmakers, journalists, historians and NASA colleagues, including Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Carl Levin (D-MI) and PBS News Hour's Mark Shields. JOHN GLENN: A LIFE OF SERVICE captures the pivotal events in John Glenn's life: his humble beginnings in Depression-era Ohio, his life-changing ride-along with a barnstormer, his enlistment following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, his 122 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War, his envelope-pushing exploits as a Naval test pilot, and his transition to astronaut during the Cold War. Thrilling archival footage of NASA lift-offs and transmissions help chronicle Glenn's historic orbits around the Earth on February 20, 1962. In interviews, Glenn describes the importance of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, the risky nature of the launch and Friendship 7's treacherous re-entry five hours later. As a fitting coda to a life spent dedicated to serving his country, JOHN GLENN: A LIFE OF SERVICE concludes with Glenn's record-setting space flight in 1998 at age 77.