John Glenn had one of the most unusual American careers of the 20th century — war hero, test pilot, astronaut, and U.S. senator.

Career highlights:

1. Marine Corps combat pilot (WWII & Korea)

• Flew 59 combat missions in World War II in the Pacific.

• Flew 90 missions in Korea.

• Shot down 3 MiG-15s in the Korean War, earning the nickname “MiG Mad Marine.”    

2. Record-setting test pilot (1957)

• Made the first supersonic transcontinental flight across the U.S. (“Project Bullet”) in just over 3 hours 23 minutes, setting a speed record.

3. Mercury Seven astronaut (1959)

• Selected as one of NASA’s original Mercury Seven, America’s first astronaut class.

4. First American to orbit Earth (1962)

• Piloted Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962.

• Completed 3 Earth orbits in under 5 hours.

• This was one of the biggest early American wins in the Space Race.    

5. U.S. Senator from Ohio (1974–1999)

• Served 24 years in the U.S. Senate.

• Worked on nuclear nonproliferation, science policy, and government oversight.

6. Returned to space at age 77 (1998)

• Flew on Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person to go to space at that time.

• Participated in aging and human physiology research.

Major honors:

• Multiple Distinguished Flying Crosses

• Congressional Space Medal of Honor

• NASA Distinguished Service Medal

• Presidential Medal of Freedom (2012)

One of my favorite historical autographs! To the moon! 🚀 🌙. Literally!

One of my favorite PCs and looking to add more. Back in ‘04 I got to play “astronaut for a day” at Kennedy Space Center in FL. Included was an intimate hour-long lunch with Apollo 15 command module pilot, Col. Alfred Worden. Boy howdy he had some things to say about the modern bureaucracy of NASA. The man was royalty there and said exactly how he felt, much to the chagrin of his staff handler. After lunch, he took the time to chat with each of us individually for a few minutes and sign autographs. I’ve never been in the company of a more interesting human. RIP “Al” (as he politely asked us to call him) (1932-2020).

If anyone has any Al Worden cards not pictured, I would probably be interested in buying or trading! I’m also interested in any other interesting astronaut cards, especially Buzz Aldrin and Edgar Mitchell.

Amazing original art piece "Fill er up and check the oil" signed Yardley Jones of The Telegram and dated Thursday July 10 1969. Likely newspaper published but acquired as-is without history. Apollo 11 was July 16–24, 1969 and the first space flight to land humans on the moon - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin

Amazing piece of space history!

Very sad to hear about his passing just a few days ago. He was such a great guy and had such a crazy experience with Apollo 13. As a Chicagoland resident he was definitely a big figure in the community and really big in help the Veteran's in our area with having a VA care center named after him in North Chicago. I go there quite a bit with my Great Uncle for his doctor visits so I always enjoy reading up on James Lovell anytime I sit and wait for my uncle to get done. An absolute legend we lost…