Forget about all the dangers of the early space program and the issues of being the first septuagenarian to ride the Space Shuttle -- it turns out that Ohio freeways will really get you. Space pioneer, decorated Marine, and Senator John Glenn and his wife suffered minor injuries in a traffic accident early this morning:

Former senator and astronaut John Glenn and his wife were taken to a hospital with minor injures after being involved in a car accident, police said. Glenn, 85, and his wife, Annie, 86, were in fair condition early Saturday morning at Grant Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.

The driver of the other car, Amy Myers of suburban New Albany, said she was driving east late Friday night when Glenn, who was headed west, tried to turn left onto a highway ramp.

Myers, who was not injured, said her car hit the front of his.

Glenn was "very sincerely sorry," Myers said.

Hopefully the hospital stay is just precautionary. It was only eight years ago that he flew on a Shuttle mission after passing the physical for mission specialists. We hope that the Senator and his wife, two great Americans, recover fully and quickly to enjoy the rest of this summer.

UPDATE: Hey, folks, we may not have liked Glenn much as a politician -- I certainly didn't -- but this man put his life on the line on many occasions for this country. He flew combat missions in both World War II and Korea -- 59 and 63 missions, respectively -- just as my late father-in-law did in the Corps. He stuck a rocket on his back when most of them blew up a hell of a lot sooner than designed during the Mercury program. This man may not win kudos for his politics, but he has more than earned our respect as an American. I consider him a great American for his service to our nation, and I think people need to rethink some of their comments in this thread.

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