[Illustration: 9. Close-up of _Friendship 7_ atop Atlas launch
vehicle with escape tower.]
[Illustration: 10. Launch of America’s first man in orbit on
February 20, 1962, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.]
On the morning of February 20, 1962, a 29-meter (95-foot) Mercury Atlas
launch vehicle rose from Cape Canaveral carrying John H. Glenn, Jr., in
his Mercury spacecraft, _Friendship 7_. This was the lift-off for the
first U.S.-manned orbital space flight.
In slightly more than 5 minutes the Atlas accelerated _Friendship 7_ to
its orbital velocity of 28,230 kilometers per hour (17,540 miles per
hour). Astronaut Glenn completed three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes.
From the orbital path, which varied between 160 and 260 kilometers (100
and 160 miles) above Earth, the first American in orbit described the
four sunsets he saw and reported that he was able to distinguish a
ship’s wake on the ocean below.
Mercury spacecraft had been used in two previous manned suborbital
flights which proved that it was a safe vehicle for manned space
flights. Later orbital Mercury missions demonstrated that man could live
and work in space. _Friendship 7_’s flight tested the performance of the
pilot in weightless conditions and the interaction of the human pilot
with the various automatic systems in the spacecraft.
_Friendship 7_ reentered the earth’s atmosphere and splashed into the
Atlantic Ocean only 64 kilometers (40 miles) from the planned site.
Glenn and _Friendship 7_ were recovered by the U.S.S. _Noa_ near Grand
Turk Island in the Bahamas.
The Mercury spacecraft consists of a conical pressure section topped by
a cylindrical recovery-system section.
During flight, the Mercury spacecraft was equipped with three
454-kilogram (1000-pound) thrust solid-propellant retro-rockets mounted
in a package on the heat shield. After the three rockets were fired to
slow the spacecraft, the retro-rocket package was jettisoned.
Prime contractor for _Friendship 7_ was McDonnell Aircraft Company.
_Friendship 7_ is from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.