"I suppose the one quality in an astronaut more powerful than any other is curiosity. They have to get someplace nobody's ever been."

- John Glenn

NASA

On Thursday, American hero, NASA astronaut and former U.S. senator John Glenn died at the age of 95.

His life was marked by record-breaking feats and a commitment to public service.

Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth as part of the Friendship 7 mission, which launched to space on Feb. 20, 1962. After retiring from NASA, Glenn served as a U.S. senator representing Ohio.

He flew to space once more in 1998 when he was 77-years-old, setting yet another record as the oldest person ever to fly to space.

Glenn was the last surviving member of his astronaut class, the first in NASA history, dubbed the Mercury 7.

Glenn, a Marine Corp pilot, steps down from his F8-UI Crusader jet at Floyd Bennet Field on July 16, 1957 after making the first non-stop supersonic flight from Los Angeles to New York. He landed 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds after departure from Los Alamitos Naval air station in California.

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Glenn entering his Friendship 7 capsule on February 20, 1926 before beginning his historic flight where he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

NASA

Glenn and his wife Annie relaxing at home on November 5, 1974.

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Senator Joe Biden, left, and Glenn, an Ohio Senator, confer during a session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on October 15, 1981.

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Glenn, as STS-95 payload specialist, takes a photo during a nine-day Space Shuttle mission aboard Discovery on October 31, 1998.

NASA

President Obama awards Glenn with the Medal of Freedom on May 29, 2012.

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I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.

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Glenn announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in Cleveland, Ohio on December 10, 1973.

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Glenn, Virgil Grissom, and Alan Shepard stand near the Redstone rocket in their spacesuits in 1961.

NASA

If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people I’ve known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self interest.

Astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glenn and Virgil I. Grissom in May 1961.

Glenn relaxes on a contour couch in Cape Canaveral on January 27, 1962.

Glenn, inside the Mercury-Atlas 6 Friendship 7 spacecraft during his historic mission to orbit the earth.

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St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper displays Glenn's historic space flight on February 20, 1962.

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Glenn and his wife, Annie, turn in their car for a glance back at crowds clogging lower Broadway in New York City.

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As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind — every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.

The crew of the STS-95 take a group portrait in space. Glenn, top right, was still serving as a Senator while also fulfilling the role of the payload specialist on this mission.

NASA

Glenn gives a thumbs up sign as he and President John Kennedy are welcomed to the missile test center at Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 23, 1962.

President Clinton gets a helping of a space shuttle meal from Glenn and astronaut Curt Brown during a tour of the space shuttle mock-up at NASA's Johnson Space Center on April 14, 1998.

EPA

We have an infinite amount to learn both from nature and from each other.

Glenn at Cape Canaveral in September 1960.

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Glenn with his wife Annie, son David, and daughter Carolyn at their Arlington, Virginia home on April 9, 1959.

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Deputy science editor

Miriam Kramer
Photo director

Dustin Drankoski