Tribute to John Glenn - The Right Stuff!

1998 Mint Set of 6 & Commemorative Sheet!

In 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard his Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft. From blastoff to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean five hours later, millions of Americans were captivated by his historic, 3-orbit flight.

Glenn received a hero's welcome at home and NASA had its first astronaut to match the Russian orbital flights of Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov. Not wanting to risk losing a national hero, a Presidential order kept Glenn from space until 36 years later when he became the "oldest man in space" aboard the 10-day Space Shuttle Discovery mission.

The Marshall Islands honored these two missions with this marvelous set highlighting both historic flights - comparing the 1962 and 1998 liftoffs, spaceships and John Glenn. The commemorative sheet features the 1962 U.S. "Man in Space" issue - a stamp prepared in secrecy and sent to post offices in sealed packages marked "Top Secret", not to be opened until the successful completion of the mission!