Astronaut John Glenn showed his star quality

HE MAY have been the first American to orbit the earth, but Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn made Edinburgh his destination on 4 June, 1966.

Four years after circling the globe three times, he arrived in the Capital for a one-day visit, speaking to the public at the Royal Museum on Chambers Street where his space capsule Freedom 7 was on show.

Before the event, he greeted four excited youngsters at the George Hotel, who had won a competition through the News and Dispatch to meet him.

Moyra Robertson, 11, Colin Dunman, 15, Patrick McQueenie, 14, and Ian King, 15, got the chance to speak to their hero and receive a book on space travel, signed by the astronaut himself.