Into Orbit

Late in 1961, NASA chose Glenn to pilot the first American orbital flight. Getting that flight off the ground became a chal­lenge, however. The launch was delayed by problems with the booster rocket and by bad weather. There was even a brief scare over Glenn’s health when he was exposed to children who had the mumps, a disease Glenn had never had. Luckily, he did not become infected.

After ten delays, Glenn finally entered his Friendship 7 space capsule on February 20, 1962. At 10 A. M., the Atlas rocket began to fire and lifted the spacecraft into the air. “We’re under way,” said Glenn.

The flight went smoothly at first. A problem did develop at one point, and Glenn turned off the automatic controls to fly the spacecraft manually for the rest of the trip. Glenn orbited the Earth three times, reporting on what he saw below. Live television coverage carried his words across the country. At one point Glenn said, “I don’t know what you can say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.”

During the second orbit, a more seri­ous problem appeared. A warning light suggested that the capsule’s heat shield was loose. This piece on the bottom of the capsule was supposed to protect Glenn when the spacecraft reentered Earth’s atmosphere. If the shield did not remain in place, the capsule-and Glenn-would burn up.

A set of small rockets that sat under­neath the heat shield was supposed to be ejected before reentry began. NASA offi­cials decided to leave them on, hoping that they would help hold the shield in place. In the end, the shield was fine-it turned out the problem was actually with the warning light. Reentry was smooth, although hot, and Glenn’s craft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. Soon after, he was picked up by a U. S. Navy ship.