Capsule, Mercury, MA-6
name: label: Astronaut
content: John H. Glenn, Jr.
label: Manufacturer
content: McDonnell Aircraft Corp.
notes: label: Summary
content: In this historic capsule, John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn's flight was the third manned mission of Project Mercury, following two suborbital flights by astronauts in 1961. Glenn's three-orbit mission on February 20, 1962, was a sterling success, as he overcame problems with the automatic control system that would have ended an unmanned flight. But reentry was tense, as a faulty telemetry signal from the spacecraft indicated that the heat shield might be loose. Mission Control instructed Glenn not to jettison the retrorocket package after firing in order to better hold the heat shield in place. Glenn reentered successfully and splashed down in the Atlantic 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds after launch.
label: Summary
content: NASA transferred Friendship 7 to the Smithsonian Institution in 1963, which has exhibited it in buildings on the National Mall ever since.
label: Alternate Name
content: Mercury <i>Friendship 7</i>
label: Key Accomplishment(s)
content: Carried First American into Orbit
label: Impact or Innovation
content: By orbiting the Earth, John Glenn showed that the United States could compete with the Soviet Union in the Cold War space race.
label: Brief Description
content: On February 20, 1962, NASA astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in this spacecraft which he named Friendship 7. Glenn returned to a hero's welcome, having completed three orbits and matching the Soviet Union's achievements.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19670176000
objectType: label: Type
content: SPACECRAFT-Crewed
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Skin & Structure: Titanium
label: Materials
content: Heat shield: Phenolic resin, fiberglass
label: Materials
content: Shingles: Nickel-steel alloy; beryllium shingles removed
label: Dimensions
content: Overall: 190.5 × 226.1cm, 875.4kg (6 ft. 3 in. × 7 ft. 5 in., 1930lb.)