Glenn Orbits Earth: First American in Space
John Glenn squeezed into the Mercury capsule Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962, after three launch cancellations and months of delays. The mission lasted four hours and 55 minutes, during which Glenn orbited Earth three times at 17,500 miles per hour. During reentry, a faulty sensor indicated that the heat shield might be loose, creating a terrifying possibility that the capsule would burn up. Mission Control instructed Glenn to keep the retrorocket pack attached to hold the shield in place, an improvised solution that worked. Glenn splashed down safely in the Atlantic. The sensor had been wrong. The mission's real significance was psychological rather than technical: the Soviets had already put a man in orbit nine months earlier. What Glenn gave America was a hero. He received a ticker-tape parade in New York, addressed a joint session of Congress, and became so valuable as a national symbol that NASA quietly grounded him from future flights.
February 20, 1962
64 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Earth
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Mercury program
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Mercury Atlas 6
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John Glenn
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Project Mercury
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Mercury-Atlas 6
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John Glenn
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Earth
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United States
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Enewetak Atoll
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Vuelo espacial
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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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Universo
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Yuri Gagarin
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What Else Happened on February 20
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Nine-year-old Edward VI received the crown at Westminster Abbey, becoming the first English monarch raised as a Protestant. His ascension accelerated the Englis…
Yohannan Sulaqa traveled to Rome to profess his Catholic faith, securing his ordination as the first Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. This formal unio…
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