7. The Oldest Astronaut and Human Being in Space
36 years after his first and only orbital flight, John Glenn returned to space. The astronaut whom NASA had deemed too old for another launch when he was in his 40s, returned to the space program as a crew member of the shuttle Discovery when he was 77. That made him the oldest astronaut in history, and the oldest human being to venture into space. It was a well-earned victory lap, and a fitting reward for a man who had dutifully served his country for six decades, from the Pacific in WWII, to “MiG Alley” in the Korean War, to the blackness of space, and the halls of Congress.
As he later described his thoughts before returning to space: “It was hard to imagine that virtually the entire history of space travel had occurred between my first ride and my second. Somebody had pointed out that more time had passed between Friendship 7 and this Discovery mission than had passed between Lindbergh’s solo trans-Atlantic flight and Friendship 7. It didn’t seem that long to me, but that is the way lives pass when you look back at them: in the blink of an eye.” John Glenn died on December 8th, 2016, aged 95, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
