on-this-day · february 20
the launch of mercury-atlas 6, carrying john glenn aboard friendship 7, on february 20, 1962 — the first american orbital spaceflight. source: wikimedia commons
Three Orbits in Friendship 7
On this day in 1962 — John Glenn orbited the Earth three times. America's first orbital flight in a capsule called Friendship 7.
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On February 20, 1962, John Glenn climbed into a Mercury capsule named Friendship 7, launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas rocket, and became the first American to orbit the Earth. The flight lasted four hours and fifty-five minutes. He circled the planet three times. His first words in orbit: "Zero-G and I feel fine."
Glenn was 40, a Marine test pilot with 149 combat missions in World War II and Korea. The Soviets had put Yuri Gagarin into orbit in April 1961. The Americans were behind, and the pressure was immense.
The mission nearly ended in disaster. The automatic control system malfunctioned during the first orbit, and Glenn switched to manual. Then Mission Control received a signal suggesting the heat shield might be loose. If it detached during reentry, Glenn would burn up. Controllers left the retrorocket pack strapped over the shield as a precaution. During reentry, burning debris streamed past Glenn's window. He lost radio contact for four agonizing minutes. Then his voice came through. The shield had held. The sensor was faulty.
nasa official portrait of astronaut john h. glenn jr. in his mercury spacesuit, taken before the friendship 7 mission on february 20, 1962. source: wikimedia commons
Friendship 7 splashed down in the Atlantic. Glenn became a national hero, got a ticker-tape parade, and met President Kennedy. He later served 24 years as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and, in 1998, flew on the Space Shuttle at age 77, becoming the oldest person in space.
Glenn died in 2016 at 95. His flight didn't match Soviet achievements of the day, but it restored American confidence in the space race. Sometimes showing up is the victory. Glenn showed up.