50th anniversary of Glenn’s orbit aboard Friendship 7

February 20, 2012 | Space | By: Mark VandeWettering

50 years ago today, American astronaut John Glenn completed three orbits of the earth aboard Friendship 7. Glenn would later become Senator, and would return to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-95 crew, becoming the oldest person to fly into space. These three orbits started fifty years of an American presence in space. Salutations to Senator Glenn, and to NASA.