Glenn set the transcontinental speed record as a test pilot in 1957 and he soon after joined Mercury 7, the US' first class of astronauts. On February 20th, 1962, Glenn boarded NASA's Friendship 7 spacecraft and blasted off into orbit.

He famously commented, "Oh, that view is tremendous!"

Glenn was the last living member of the original Mercury 7 team. And in 1998, he broke another record: He blasted off again at the age of 77, making him the oldest person to reach space.

On the 50th anniversary of Glenn's initial trip around the Earth, we called him a "real American hero," a moniker he carried proudly until the end.