Godspeed, John Glenn. Social media salutes veteran, astronaut and senator

John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, died Thursday. He was 95.

Glenn lived an extraordinary life, serving as a combat pilot in World War II and Korea, becoming one of the first humans in space and serving four terms in the United States Senate.

Tributes poured in after news of Glenn’s death became public. Many wished him “Godspeed.”

“Our nation has lost an icon,” President Obama said in a statement.

“John Glenn was an American hero,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. “... May his memory live on every time we look up at the stars.”

“Today we lost a great pioneer of air and space in John Glenn. He was a hero and inspired generations of future explorers,” President-elect Donald Trump said in a tweet.

This story was originally published December 8, 2016 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Godspeed, John Glenn. Social media salutes veteran, astronaut and senator."