Former US astronaut John Glenn hospitalized in Cleveland

CLEVELAND — John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and a former U.S. senator and war hero, has been hospitalized for more than a week, officials said on Wednesday.

Glenn, 95, is at the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University but does not necessarily have cancer, university spokesman Hank Wilson said in a telephone interview.

“When you’re 95, it’s always considered serious,” said Wilson, who did not have further details about Glenn’s condition or his prognosis.

Glenn had a knee replacement operation in 2011 and underwent heart surgery in 2014.

Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, doing so three times on Feb. 20, 1962. He also became the oldest astronaut ever, returning to space at the age of 77 on Oct. 29, 1998.

Born in Cambridge, Ohio, Glenn served in the U.S. Senate as a moderate Democrat from Ohio from 1974 to 1999.