Charity Auction Offers Meal With Astronaut John Glenn

Hall of Fame Astronaut John Glenn is putting himself on the auction block to raise money for college scholarships for top engineering and science students through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's online Auction of Astronaut Experiences & Memorabilia, which opened this week online.

The winning bidder will share an unforgettable meal with Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, who will regale his guests with stories of his historic spaceflight adventures, answer questions about astronaut life, the US space program, and what it's like to be a living legend.

Glenn was one of seven men chosen by NASA to be America's first astronauts -- the Mercury 7. Glenn first made history in 1962 when he orbited the Earth aboard Friendship 7, and again in 1998, when he flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery STS-95 at age 77, setting a world record for the oldest human to have ever ventured into space. In between spaceflights Glenn served as a United States Senator of Ohio for 24 years.

The Glenn lunch is one of eight astronaut experiences featured in this auction. Bidders also have the opportunity to win astronaut autographs from the likes of Neil Armstrong and artifacts that flew in outer space and to the surface of the moon. More than 50 astronauts in all have donated items from their personal collection or signed artifacts for this worthy endeavor.

Online bidding is now open and closes on April 18, 2009 at 5:00 PM EDT. All auction proceeds benefit the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides scholarships to college students who exhibit motivation, imagination, and exceptional performance in the science or engineering field of their major.

The Foundation funds nineteen $10,000 scholarships annually and has awarded more than $2.6 million to students nationwide.

FMI: www.astronautscholarship.org/auction.pl