Quick Facts:
Capsule Name: Friendship 7
Crew: John H. Glenn (1)
![[John Glenn]](https://members.tripod.com/~johnhglenn/small/smallglennmercurysuit.jpg)
Launch Pad: Pad LC-14, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Payload: Spacecraft Number 13, Vehicle Number 109-D
Launch: 9:47 a.m., EST, February 20, 1962
Orbit: 3 orbits at 162.2 x 100 statute miles
Mission Duration: 0 days, 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds
Orbital Velocity: 17, 544 m.p.h.
Mission Duration: 0 days, 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds
Landing: February 20, 1962, 800 miles southeast of Bermuda
Recovery Ship: U.S.S. Noa
Mission Objective: Place a man in Earth orbit, observe his reactions to the space environment, and return him safely to the Earth.
On the morning of February 20, 1962, 100 million people in 40 million homes watched and listened with countless people at their radios and 50,000 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, as Astronaut John Glenn blasted off into space. History was going to be made with this spaceflight, because Glenn was about to become the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn completed three orbits in his space capsule Friendship 7, making a large step in catching up with the Soviet Union in the space race.
At 9:47 a.m., after 2 hours and 17 minutes of holds, Friendship 7 was launched into history. As the Atlas rocket carrying Friendship 7 and John Glenn cleared the tower, Mission Control broadcast "Glenn reports all spacecraft systems go! Mercury Control is go!" At liftoff, the Atlas and all other spacecraft systems were operating normally. A little over two minutes into the flight, the Mercury capsule separated from the Atlas rocket, the escape tower was jettisoned, and John Glenn was soon given the word that he was go for at least seven orbits. Astronaut Glenn peered out the window and could see the Atlas tumbling away. He could see the spent vehicle turning end over end as he called out distance estimates. He visually tracked the vehicle for eight minutes. Glenn, noticing the onset of weightlessness, settled into orbital free flight at a velocity of 17, 544 miles per hour, and reported 0 G was pleasant.
After completing spacecraft systems checks, Glenn became the first American to view a sunset from an altitude over 100 miles up. The night would last only 45 minutes before he would see the sun rise over Canton Island in the Pacific Ocean. The first major event of the flight occurred during this first sunrise. Glenn discovered his capsule enveloped in a cloud of thousands of "little specks, brilliant specks, floating outside the capsule." Glenn was sure these "fireflies" were streaming past his spacecraft from far ahead. As he continued to orbit over the Pacific, the particles disappeared. It was later determined to by ice particles emitting from the spacecraft.
Later in the flight Glenn noticed the automatic control system on the spacecraft allowed the spacecraft to drift about a degree and a half per second to the right. Glenn switched to manual control of the spacecraft and put Friendship 7 back on course. He flew the spacecraft by switching between automatic and manual control, but soon a yaw-right thruster broke down. Glenn realized at this point he would have to become a full-time pilot of the spacecraft.
Later in the flight, Mission Control discovered a new problem, which if not corrected would have grave results. An engineer at the telemetry control console, William Saunders, noted that the spacecraft landing system was reporting a strange reading. According to the signal, the heatshield and the compressed landing bag were no longer locked in position. If this was the case, the heatshield was being held on to the capsule by only the straps of the retropackage. Glenn was not immediately aware of the situation, but became suspicious when each monitor station asked him how his heatshield readings were. Mission Control decided that instead of deploying the retropackage, which would normally be done, it would be kept on the spacecraft in the hopes that the straps will be strong enough to hold the heatshield in place during reentry. Meanwhile, Glenn was attempting to complete as many in-flight tasks as possible. He completed an oculogyric test, and took photographs of selected sites on the Earth.
Soon after the discovery of the loose heat shield, more problems arose on Friendship 7. It was noticed that the hydrogen peroxide fuel supply for the automatic control system was down to 62%. Mission Control suggested letting the capsule drift in orbit to conserve fuel. Glenn then noticed the roll horizon scanner was not working properly on the night side of the Earth and it was difficult for him to obtain a visual reference to check the situation. For the remainder of the second orbit, Friendship 7 encountered no new problems. Glenn continued to control has attitude without too much drift. Consequently, the spacecraft consumed more fuel than normal.
Soon it was time for Glenn to prepare for reentry. A little more than four hours and 33 minutes after launch, the spacecraft assumed its critical retrofire attitude alignment and the first retrorocket fired. Seconds later, the other two engines fired, bringing the spacecraft down to its correct breaking speed. Six minutes later, Glenn placed the spacecraft in its correct angle to begin the descent through the Earth’s atmosphere. Now the time had come to see if the retropackage straps would hold the heat shield in place. Glenn and Friendship 7 slowed down over their long reentry glide over the United States. Almost immediately, Glenn heard noises that sounded like “small things brushing against the capsule.” Glenn could see a fireball outside, and then a strap from the retropackage fluttered against the window, soon to be engulfed in flames. Friendship 7 was entering its most critical point in the reentry when the capsule was surrounded in flame from the reentry.
Shortly after passing the peak g region, the spacecraft began oscillating so severely that Glenn could no longer control the ship manually. Fuel was beginning to run out, and Glenn decided at 35,000 feet that he should deploy the parachutes manually. Just as his left hand was about to reach the switch to deploy the chutes, they deployed on their own at 28,000 feet. The spacecraft straightened out, and the critical part of reentry was over. The heat shield stayed in place; however, it was later discovered that there was nothing wrong with the shield and that the alarm saying it was loose was a glitch in the system.
Glenn watched as the ocean got closer and braced for splashdown. Friendship 7 splashed into the Atlantic Ocean 40 miles short of the predicted area. The U.S.S. Noa had spotted the spacecraft during its descent and reached it in 17 minutes. During the hoisting of the capsule onto the ship’s deck, it banged rather hard against the hull. As Friendship 7 was lowered on the Noa’s deck, Glenn began preparing for the hatch opening. A loud report indicated the hatch was off as the explosive bolts took it off. Eager crew onboard the ship helped Glenn out of the spacecraft, and his first words back on Earth were “It was hot in there.”
John Glenn became a national hero. Glenn, his family, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson passed in parade review in Washington, D.C. on February 26 before an estimated crowd of 250,000. Later, Glenn presented a 20 minute informal report about his mission to a joint session of Congress. New York City called March 1 “John Glenn Day”, and Mayor Wagner presented medals to John Glenn and Robert Gilruth, part of the Mercury Program technical team. The next day, there was an informal reception for the astronaut at the United Nations, and Glenn later went to his hometown of New Concord, Ohio on March 3.
After a thorough post flight analysis, the Friendship 7 capsule began a world-wide tour, named “the fourth orbit of Friendship 7”. Millions saw the spacecraft in exhibitions in 17 countries and Hawaii. In August of 1962, it was displayed at the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle. Finally, on the one year anniversary of its flight, Friendship 7 came to rest near the Wright Brothers’ original airplane and Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
