Two historic space flights, 24 years in the Senate, 24 years as a Marine and 14 years at Ohio State. It's a lot to cover in one life. It's even more to cover in one night, but the Celebrating John Glenn gala will honour all of the titular astronaut and former senator's legacy Monday. Read more
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was a human spaceflight mission conducted by NASA, the space agency of the United States. As part of Project Mercury, MA-6 was the successful first attempt by NASA to place an astronaut into orbit. The MA-6 mission was launched February 20, 1962. It made three orbits of the Earth, piloted by astronaut John Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the Earth. Read more
On the first attempt by the United States to orbit a human around the Earth, NASA astronaut John Glenn became the first American to be successfully placed in Earth orbit. The date was February 20, 1962, and Glenn was piloting his spacecraft called Friendship 7. Read more
On this day in February, 1962 astronaut John Glenn launched into space aboard his Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 atop an Atlas rocket. He became the fifth person in space and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling the globe three times during a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds.