Astronaut John Glenn

John Glenn served as a pilot in the United States Marine Corps. In 1957, he set a speed record when he flew from Los Angeles to New York in less than 3 1/2 hours.

In 1959, he was picked as one of NASA's original seven Mercury astronauts. He was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 aboard his tiny capsule named "Friendship 7".

Source: NASA

In 1998, at age 77, he flew aboard space shuttle Discovery for nine days. At that time, he was the oldest human to launch into space.

Source: NASA

I am proud to have this autographed photo of John Glenn in my home office.

More info:

[1] "Profile of John Glenn"; NASA; https://www.nasa.gov/content/profile-of-john-glenn

[2] "Who Was John Glenn?"; NASA; https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/who-is-john-glenn-k4.html

[3] Image Gallery; NASA; https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/sets/72157677594211745

BepiColombo Says Farewell to Earth

BepiColombo is Europe's first mission to Mercury. Launched on October, 20 2018, it will take seven years (and some planetary slingshots) to reach the smallest and least explored terrestrial planet in our Solar System.

It represents another example of successful international cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

More info: https://sci.esa.int/web/bepicolombo

Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

An ESA news article says:

On April 10, 2020 BepiColombo mission completed its first flyby, as the spacecraft came less than 12 700 km from Earth's surface at 06:25 CEST, steering its trajectory towards the final destination, Mercury. Images gathered just before closest approach portray our planet shining through darkness, during one of humankind's most challenging times in recent history. 

When it arrives at Mercury in late 2025, it will endure temperatures in excess of 350 °C and gather data during its one-year nominal mission, with a possible one-year extension. The mission comprises two spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio).