50 Year Anniversary of First American in Orbit, John Glenn
Mercury Atlas with Friendship 7
Historic Flight
On February 20th, 1962 a highly decorated captain in the United States Marine Corps named John Glenn became the first American to orbit earth. His Mercury capsule named Friendship 7 orbited the planet three times in almost five hours before returning home.
The successful launch was at a crucial moment in the early years of the space race against their rival and other world super power the Soviet Union. Russia had already launched two cosmonauts into orbit beginning with Yuri Gagarin on April 12th, 1961 and Gerhman Titov on August 6. Titov orbited the earth for an entire day.
Meanwhile NASA in the United States had only sent astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom on sub-orbital flights. They were launched into space using the short range Redstone rocket designed by the German engineer Wernher von Braun. The more powerful Atlas rocket which would later fire Glenn into orbit was still being tested.
The Beginning of NASA
The National Aeronautical Space Administration opened its doors in October 1958 when President Eisenhower decided a civilian agency should lead the country into space. The United States Air Force and the army had been squabbling for years over who should have jurisdiction over it.
In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the world’s first man made satellite ‘Sputnik’ into orbit. Many believed Eisenhower’s wait for a non-military rocket cost the United States the glory of reaching space first. Eisenhower eventually let the army launch a modified Jupiter army rocket into orbit. This rocket named Juno 1 was designed by the famous rocket scientist Werner von Braun. The launch put America’s first satellite, Explorer One into orbit on January 31st, 1958.
JFK Chooses the Moon
By the time Glenn was preparing for his historic flight in 1962, the Eisenhower administration was out of the White House. A younger more adventurous president named John F. Kennedy took over. President Kennedy was determined to make up for all the ground he felt was lost to the Soviets since World War II had ended. JFK, as he was known, famously set his sights on the moon.
Nevertheless, before the moon could be reached the United States would first have to orbit the earth. This was going to be up to forty year old John Glenn. His Atlas rocket had experienced some highly publicized explosions since the first test flights in 1957. This made the astronauts a feel a little bit uneasy.
John Glenn climbs into Friendship 7 before his historic flight
The Mercury Seven
The Ohio native was undeterred however. Glenn had been selected in 1959 along with six other test pilots from different branches of the military to become America’s first astronauts. Glenn was the only one from the Marine Corps. The Mercury Seven, as they became known, would ride into history on-board dangerous rockets carrying thousands of pounds of explosive fuels. These rockets tended to blow up during testing more often than the engineers would have preferred. “Our rockets always blow up and our boys always botch it” was a classic line from Tom Wolfe’s novel and Hollywood movie “The Right Stuff” chronicling the Mercury Seven program.
After two months of delays and already ten scheduled launch postponements the Atlas rocket finally ascended from pad 14 at 9:07 am local time on February 20th, 1962 from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Inside the 4,265 pound Mercury capsule, named Friendship 7, was John Glenn. He squeezed himself into a custom made seat. His spacesuit was just as silvery and shiny as the rocket he was riding on. Over the roar of the three liquid fuelled engines the words Scott Carpenter’s words of “God speed John Glenn” echoed through the capsule communicator. The seventy-five foot shining aluminum rocket performed perfectly on take off. The black Mercury capsule perched on top separated as planned from the Atlas booster five minutes later. NASA was aiming for seven orbits. Things were going well early on.
John Glenn Takes Control
Soon after, however, Glenn began encountering problems. During the second orbit a thruster to help control Mercury’s attitude was not working properly. Glenn was immediately forced to go from ‘fly by wire’ to manual control. There were eighteen of these tiny thrusters around the outside of the capsule fuelled by hydrogen peroxide controlling the pitch, roll, and yaw. Glenn had to constantly make manual adjustments to the drifting space capsule causing the thruster fuel to drain faster than expected. This was vital because Glenn needed some fuel to make last minute manoeuvres for the return home. The process involved an important attitude correction making sure the heat shield was facing down and on the proper angle during re-entry. Glenn was able to manage the situation on his own through manual control. It wasn’t long however before the astronaut received more unsettling news from mission control. This time from where he was sitting there was nothing the marine fighter pilot could do about it.
Harrowing Re-entry
A flashing light on a lone panel somewhere in the control center indicated that the landing cushion had deployed and possibly loosened the heat shield. The heat shield was the last and only line of defence protecting an astronaut from the extreme temperatures faced during re-entry through earth’s atmosphere. Flight Director Chris Kraft was certain the light was a false reading and opted to jettison the retro pack as planned when re-entry commenced. On launch day the Flight Director is always in charge. On this day though, Walt Williams, the Operations Director and Kraft’s boss was standing in the back of the room and disagreed with the Flight Director’s decision.
Williams suggested the retro pack remain attached to the bottom of the capsule for Glenn’s entire way down. He argued that the same metal straps holding the rocket pack into place would also secure a loosened heat shield as well. The retro pack was hopefully going to burn up through the atmosphere without giving any problems to the capsule. The pack was usually discarded as soon as the retrograde rockets did their job and the capsule began descending from space. Kraft was concerned that if the pack was left on and there happened to be trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide fuel left over in any of the small retro engines it could cause an explosion.
There was also the worry that not all of the retro pack would burn up as planned during its descent and parts could break off and damage Friendship 7. Glenn was not happy when he heard the change of flight plan so late in the mission. It was customary in the military for a test pilot to receive any and all information regarding his troubled aircraft as soon as a problem occurred. This was not done and NASA made the decision to keep the problem from Glenn until the very last minute. It had concerned them enough they shortened Glenn’s trip to just three orbits. As well a phone call between the astronaut and President Kennedy which was supposed to take place on one of Glenn’s passes over the United States was cancelled.
To break away from orbital speed and return to earth earlier than he had wished, Glenn fired his control rockets one at a time to position the craft for re-entry. The capsule’s blunt end where the heat shield was attached received temperatures in excess of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit for several minutes. This is the black out period between the astronaut and mission control when radio signals are absorbed by the fireball surrounding the craft and communication is not possible. Through his small window Glenn witnessed charred remains of the retro-pack bang up against the sides of Friendship 7. He continued to report in to the control centre even though it was impossible for them to hear him. He was on his own and would later comment that he actually enjoyed the peace and quiet. “Cautious apprehension” were the words used by Glenn himself describing his true feelings through the anxious minutes before the drogue chute finally deployed at 22,000 feet. Mission control along with the entire country waited nervously on the ground for Glenn to report in.
JFK inspects Friendship 7
A Safe Landing
The Mercury Capsule’s massive orange and white striped main parachute sprung open above Friendship 7 at 10,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. Soon after the landing bag deployed on time and inflated around the capsule without any problems. Kraft ended up being right, it was a false alarm. After three orbits around the earth and back John Glenn and his Friendship 7 capsule had travelled 81,000 miles in just 295 minutes. Glenn was down to fifteen percent fuel in his manual tank when he hit the water. He had flown most of the flight on his own. Astronauts were no longer “spam in a can” as renowned World War II pilot Chuck Yeager once professed.
Friendship 7 undershot the predetermined splash down point in the Atlantic Ocean by 40 miles while ending up 800 miles south east of Bermuda. This was just 500 miles from where he lifted off from at the Cape. When the USS NOA arrived to retrieve the capsule it was gingerly bobbing up and down in the water with the American astronaut safely inside. On-board the recovery ship Glenn finally received his much anticipated call from President Kennedy with congratulations over the radio-telephone.
A Hero’s Welcome
John Glenn received a hero’s welcome on his return to the United States. When Glenn arrived in New York on March 1st over four million people lined the streets of Manhattan for the largest ticker tape parade in New York City history. Because of Glenn’s successful trip around the world and back the American space program quickly moved forward. It was now at least equal with the Soviet program. The Mercury flights would come to an end in 1963 after Gordon Cooper successfully orbited the planet twenty-two times on May 15th.
Life After NASA
Six weeks following President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963, John Glenn resigned from NASA and the space program to pursue his love for business and politics. In 1975 Glenn was elected the Democratic Senator for his home state of Ohio. In 1998, at the age of 77, he flew on-board the Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person to travel in outer space. Friendship 7 remains on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The heat shield is still firmly in place.
Fifty years later Glenn’s flight is regarded in historical ‘Cold War’ terms as the launch that put the United States back on course in the space race with the Russians. The Gemini and Apollo programs succeeded Mercury. This lead to Neil Armstrong’s legendary date with the moon in 1969.
But first it was John Glenn in 1962 and his three orbits around our planet in a Mercury capsule that paved an invisible flight path to outer space for future American astronauts like Armstrong.
“This is the new ocean, and I believe the United States must sail on it and be in a position second to none.”
-President Kennedy immediately following John Glenn’s return to Earth in Friendship 7.
About John Glenn
- Born: July 18th, 1921 in Cambrigde, Ohio
- Education: Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Muskingum College, Ohio.
- Glenn was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1943.
- In July 1957 Glenn set transcontinental speed record in F8U Crusader from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.
- John Glenn joined NASA in 1959 as part of the Mercury Astronaut Program.
- On February 20th, 1962 Glenn piloted the Mercury/Atlas 6 flight.
- In 1975 Glenn was elected Democratic Senator for Ohio.
- On October 29, 1998 Glenn flew on-board the STS-95 (Space Shuttle) at the age of 77 years old.
- On July 18, 2011 John Glenn celebrated his 90th birthday. Glenn and Scott Carpenter are the last living members of the Mercury Seven.
About the author
- Wilfred Ashley McIsaac is a graduate of the Toronto School of Business and now writes freelance articles concentrating on historical achievements in space. McIsaac has flown high-powered rockets in Canada since 1997 and recently launched a rocket in Gananoque, Ontario carrying mail addressed with 75 year old ‘First Canadian Rocket Flight’ stamps. Video of the flight was a success on YouTube and the Sigma Rockets website and may be viewed here.
©2012 Sigma Rockets and Aerospace Inc.
