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Friendship 7
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(Top) U.S. astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., entering the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962, in preparation for launch. Riding into space atop a modified Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (bottom), Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. John Glenn John Glenn entering Friendship 7 Friendship 7 Friendship 7
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Friendship 7

United States spacecraft
Also known as: Mercury-Atlas 6
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(Top) U.S. astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., entering the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962, in preparation for launch. Riding into space atop a modified Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (bottom), Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth.
(Top) U.S. astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., entering the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962, in preparation for launch. Riding into space atop a modified Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (bottom), Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth.

The Friendship 7 was a United States spacecraft that carried astronaut John Glenn into orbit on February 20, 1962, making him the first American to orbit Earth. This mission was part of NASA's Project Mercury, which aimed to put humans into space. The Friendship 7 capsule, weighing about 1,400 kg (3,000 pounds), completed three orbits before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. This flight was a significant achievement for the U.S. space program, following earlier suborbital flights by Alan Shepard and Virgil Grissom. The Mercury program paved the way for future U.S. crewed space missions.1234

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. space exploration - Mercury
  2. John Glenn
  3. Mercury
  4. space exploration - Crewed spaceflights, 1960–69

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