This is one of a series of caches honoring our astronauts. These are/were people who accomplished great things in the exploration of space. The world is a better place because of these pioneers.
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (July 18, 1921 - December 8, 2016), (Col, USMC, Ret.), was a former pilot, engineer, astronaut and United States senator. He was a combat aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps, and is now the only surviving member of the Mercury Seven: the elite U.S. military test pilots selected by NASA to operate the experimental Mercury spacecraft and who became the first American astronauts.
On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission and became the first American to orbit the Earth. In 1965, Glenn retired from the military and resigned from NASA so he could be eligible to stand for election to public office. He was elected to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 1974 to 1999.
Glenn received a Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990. On October 29, 1998, while still a sitting senator, he became the oldest person to fly in space, and the only one to fly in both the Mercury and Space Shuttle programs, when at age 77, he flew on Discovery (STS-95). With the death of Scott Carpenter on October 10, 2013, Glenn is the last surviving member of the Mercury 7.
"John Glenn passed away on December 8, 2016. He was the last of the original 7 astronauts. They were the first Americans to brave the uncertainties of space travel. Sic itur ad astra."
***Congratulations to BaconFudge for being FTF!***
John Glenn
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