John Glenn, first US astronaut to orbit earth, dead

New York: John Glenn, who was hailed as a national hero and a symbol of the space age as the first American to orbit Earth, then became a national political figure for 24 years in the Senate, died on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. He was 95.

Ohio State University announced his death. Glenn had recently been hospitalised at the university at the James Cancer Centre, though Ohio State officials said at the time that admission there did not necessarily mean he had cancer, New York Times reported.

He had heart-valve replacement surgery in 2014 and a stroke during that time.