HOUSTON (CNN) -- Taking a break from his Senate duties, John Glenn is a full-time astronaut now, training almost continuously in Houston and Florida until his October 29 space shuttle launch.

He and his crewmates work each day in a mock-up of the shuttle, simulating every minute of their nine-day flight -- learning where things are stored in the scores of shuttle lockers and getting classroom lectures on medical conditions that might affect a 77-year-old on Earth or in space.

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Glenn's fellow astronauts are getting used to working with a decorated war hero who's old enough to be their father -- or grandfather. For instance, Japanese astronaut Chiaki Mukai was just 9 years old when Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962.

For one of Glenn's fellow travelers, the mission will have an extra special meaning. Jim Reilly says he became an astronaut because he was inspired by Glenn.

"I haven't told him this story yet, but I will before he launches and tell him that he's the guy that got me here and started it those many years ago," says Reilly. "It came to fruition for me at the ripe old age of 40."


John Glenn is training with six other astronauts

For Glenn, the time he spends learning to work with a crew of six other astronauts is totally different from the training he underwent for his solo shot more than three decades ago.

"Back in those days, our training was designed to get answers on whether we could even do these things or not," he says.

"Now, of course, everything has gotten so much more scientific, and there's much more dealing with specific projects in the classroom and how you're going to work a particular project and what tube gets squeezed into what other tube at what point during the flight."