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John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician.He was the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. [3]
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was the first crewed American orbital spaceflight, which took place on February 20, 1962. [4] Piloted by astronaut John Glenn and operated by NASA as part of Project Mercury, it was the fifth human spaceflight, preceded by Soviet orbital flights Vostok 1 and 2 and American sub-orbital flights Mercury-Redstone 3 and 4.
It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a human in orbit around the Earth. The Mercury-Atlas 6 flight on 20 February 1962, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn, was the first Mercury flight to achieve this goal. Glenn was the only Marine to fly in the Mercury program, and also flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.
Glenn became the first American in orbit in 1962. In 1998 (while a sitting U.S. senator) he flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery , and became the oldest person to fly in space at the time, aged 77. He was the last living member of the Mercury Seven when he died in 2016 at the age of 95.
February 20 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the Earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to do so. April 26 – The Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon. It is also the first spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon as well. [1]
Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) is a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.Part of the Missile Row lineup of launch sites in the region, LC-14 was used for various crewed and uncrewed Atlas launches, including the February 1962 Friendship 7 flight aboard which John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
The resulting bright shower of particles outside the spacecraft—what John Glenn had called "fireflies"—turned out to be ice particles shaken loose from the spacecraft's exterior. Near the end of the flight, Carpenter found that by banging his hand against the wall of the capsule, he could shake more "fireflies" loose.
The John Glenn Story is a 1962 American short documentary film directed by Michael R. Lawrence about the astronaut John Glenn. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short . [ 1 ]