John Glenn signed Newsweek magazine coverA clipped cover from an October 26, 1998 edition of Newsweek featuring a signature from astronaut John Glenn John Glenn (1921 2016) was the pilot of the 1962 Mercury Atlas 6 spaceflight making him the first American to orbit the Earth. In later years he became a Democratic senator. In 1998, he flew on the STS 95 Discovery aged 77. He remains the oldest person ever to go to space. A clipped front cover of an October 26, 1998 edition of Newsweek