Godspeed John Glenn: the last of the Mercury 7 astronauts and the first American to enter orbit, aboard the Friendship 7 capsule in February 1962. Glenn returned to orbit more than a quarter of a century later, as part of the STS-95 mission of the Discovery Space Shuttle in October 1998. Glenn, then 77, became the world’s oldest space traveller. Spanish ESA astronaut Pedro Duque was honoured to be Glenn’s fellow crewmember on that historic flight
John Glenn lifted the hopes of a nation when he orbited the Earth aboard Friendship 7. His contributions will forever be remembered by a grateful nation: http://nasa.tumblr.com/post/154220694524/ad-astra-john-glenn-1921-2016
