Astronaut-politician

Astronaut-politicians are those individuals who have entered politics after traveling to space as an astronaut with NASA, or as a cosmonaut with the Russian Federal Space Agency or its predecessor during the days of the Soviet Union. Even with the increasing number of individuals who have flown in space, astronauts still maintain a wide degree of public recognition, and those interested in pursuing a career in politics have been able to take advantage of their renown to enter politics at higher levels of elected office.

North America

American John Glenn, one of the Mercury Seven selected in 1959 by NASA became the first American astronaut to orbit the earth when he flew the Mercury-Atlas 6 named Friendship 7 for three earth orbits on February 20, 1962, and left the manned space program in 1964. In 1964, Glenn announced that he would challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Stephen M. Young in the Democratic primary at the end of Young's first term in office. Criticism of "astronaut turned politician" Glenn came immediately following his announcement, taking issue with the "undesirable precedent in astronauts' capitalizing on their fame to enter political roles" with some grumbling that Glenn did not follow the standard "step-by-step progression up the political ladder" by "aspiring immediately for the Senate". Speculation also ran strong that then-Attorney General of the United States Robert F. Kennedy had promoted Glenn's electoral bid as a means to enhance the Democrat's chances in Ohio. Asked the question while on an official trip in Tokyo, Kennedy would offer no comment beyond stating that he had had "a number of conversations with John Glenn over his future". At the time, fellow Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper was cited as having met with Democratic Party leaders in Oklahoma to consider a Senate run there. In an editorial shortly after the announcement, The Toledo Blade took exception to the fact that Glenn "presumes too much on his popularity as a spaceman". A slip and fall in a bathtub in March 1964 ultimately led to Glenn's withdrawal from the race After losing the Ohio Senate primary to Howard Metzenbaum in 1970, "former space hero" Glenn went on to win the party's 1974 nomination and later won election to the Senate in that year's race. Glenn later ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1984, an unsuccessful bid in which The Miami Herald discussed the campaign errors of the "Astronaut-turned-politician John Glenn... the man who would lead the country with new ideas". Glenn returned to space on October 30, 1998 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95) aftering retiring from the Senate.

"Astronaut turned Sen. Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt", whose participation on the Apollo 17 mission made him the only geologist to walk on the moon, resigned from NASA in August 1975 and shortly thereafter ran as a Republican, winning the New Mexico Senate seat in 1976 over two-term Democratic incumbent, Joseph Montoya by a margin of 57% to 42%, despite being described by The New York Times as a "political neophyte".

Jack Swigert, who had flown on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, was elected in November 1982 to the United States House of Representatives representing Colorado, based on a plan he developed that "evolved from his training as an astronaut and the success of the Apollo exploration of the moon", but died before taking office.

Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space, when he flew in 1984 on the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-41-G as a payload specialist. After two other shuttle flights, Garneau entered politics and won a seat to the Parliament of Canada in 2008.

In 1986, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida became the second sitting member of Congress (and the first member of the House at the time) to travel into space. He went through NASA training with Senator Jake Garn of Utah. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-61-C mission from January 12 to 18, 1986. Columbia landed at Edwards AFB at 5:59 a.m. PST, on January 18. Mission elapsed time was 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds. It was the last successful Space Shuttle flight before the Challenger accident, as the disaster occurred only 10 days after Columbia's return.

Russia

In Russia, cosmonaut Yuri Baturin, described at the time by Space.com as "Russia's only cosmonaut/politician", became a senior aide to President Boris Yeltsin and served as one of that nation's leading space policy advisors. Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, also entered politics in the days of the Soviet Union, serving in parliament and as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

Europe

Two individuals have made the journey to space and were later elected to become a Member of the European Parliament. Cosmonaut Vladimír Remek, who flew into space on Soyuz 28 in 1978 from Czechoslovakia as the first non-American / non-Soviet in space, was elected as an MEP in 2004 from the Czech Republic as an independent candidate for the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, and was re-elected in 2009, with Deutsche Welle describing how "his huge communist-era fame contributed to his success at the ballot box". Italian astronaut Umberto Guidoni flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-75 on Columbia and became the first European to visit the International Space Station when he was part of STS-100 aboard Endeavour in 2001, and was elected in June 2004 to the European Parliament, where he sits with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left. Ms. Claudie Haigneré, a French "spationaute", has been junior minister for Research and New Technologies, and junior minister for European Affairs, in a government led by Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin.