It was a small step for John Glenn into the G-force simulator.

But the session in a centrifuge also marked the start of training as America's first man to orbit the Earth sets out to become the world's oldest astronaut.

Mr Glenn, now a 76-year-old US senator, spent 18 minutes in the centrifuge experiencing three times the force of gravity.

The centrifuge reminds Glenn what take-off is like

The session at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, was the start of Mr Glenn's training for a space shuttle flight in October which will investigate the ageing process.

As the centrifuge spun, Mr Glenn was in constant contact with the operators assuring them he was okay but an ambulance was kept on stand-by just in case.

Mr Glenn became an national hero when, on February 20, 1962, he became the first American to circle the globe.

Thirty six years later, almost to the day, he began training to become the world's oldest astronaut.

Dressed in an orange space suit the senator from Ohio looked remarkably similar to the young astronaut who stepped into the unknown in 1962 aboard Friendship 7 to orbit the earth three times.

After the two nine-minute Centrifuge sessions he said: "I feel fine. The run went well. It's a good drill."

A Brooks spokesman said Mr Glenn weighed only nine pounds (4kg) more than he did when he made his historic flight.

Mr Glenn will be 77 when he climbs aboard the shuttle Discovery on October 16 and will be 16 years older than Story Musgrave, who is currently the world's oldest astronaut.

NASA said the fact that two doctors will accompany him on the 10-day research mission is coincidental.
 

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