Four members of Congress have flown in space. The most well known is John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, who represented Ohio in the Senate from 1974 to 1999. The other former astronauts areSenator 'Jake' Garn - who flew on the 'Discovery' Space Shuttle in 1985 as a payload specialist - and was the first sitting member of Congress to enter space. (Senator Glenn flew again - on Discovery - in 1998), Senator Garn was a Republican who represented Utah.
Senator 'Bill' Nelson flew on 'Columbia' in 1986 - he has been a member of the House of Representatives (1979-91) and is now a Democrat Senator for Florida.
Before entering Congress, 'Jack' Schmitt was a scientist-astronaut, and walked on the moon. He was the last but one person to do so. He served as a Republican Senator for New Mexico in 1977-83.
