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Ohio airport to be named in honor of astronaut John Glenn

Associated Press
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FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1964, file photo, astronaut John Glenn, center, signs an autograph before announcing his first bid to seek the Democratic nomination to run for U.S. senator of Ohio, as reporters and photographers document his arrival at Port Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio. State lawmakers in Ohio voted Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on a bill that would honor the 94-year-old former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator by renaming the facility as John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (AP Photo, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 1964, file photo, astronaut John Glenn, concluding five days of campaigning in Ohio for his first bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, writes out a check for plane tickets as his wife Annie Glenn examines some reading material at Port Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio. State lawmakers in Ohio voted Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on a bill that would honor the 94-year-old former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator by renaming the facility as John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (AP Photo/Julian C. Wilson, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2000, file photo, 20th-century pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's sculpture Brushstrokes In Flight serves as a resting spot for Thanksgiving travelers at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. State lawmakers in Ohio voted Wednesday, May 25, 2016, on a bill that would honor the 94-year-old former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator by renaming the facility as John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (AP Photo/Jack Kustron, File) (The Associated Press)

Astronaut John Glenn is about to get an airport named in his honor in his home state of Ohio.

In a gesture of bipartisan cooperation, Ohio's Republican-dominated state Legislature planned Wednesday to support a bill 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.

Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth 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. Glenn also piloted the first supersonic transcontinental flight in 1957.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, serving until 1999. He returned to space in 1998, at age 77.