After the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, Glenn criticized putting a "lay person in space for the purpose of gaining public support . . . while the shuttle is still in its embryonic stage".

He supported flying research scientists. In 1995, Glenn read Space Physiology and Medicine, a book written by NASA doctors. He realized that many changes that occur to physical attributes during space flight, such as loss of bone and muscle mass and blood plasma, are the same as changes that result from aging. Glenn thought NASA should send an older person on a shuttle mission, and that it should be him.

Starting in 1995, he began lobbying NASA director Dan Goldin for the mission.[213] Goldin said he would consider it if there was a scientific reason, and if Glenn could pass the same physical examination the younger astronauts took. Glenn performed research on the subject, and passed the physical examination. On January 16, 1998, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin announced that Glenn would be part of the STS-95 crew; this made him, at age 77, the oldest person to fly in space at that time. (Wikipedia)

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