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Mercury-Atlas 6

Mercury-Atlas 6
Glenn62.jpg
Still frame of John Glenn in orbit, taken by a motion picture camera inside Friendship 7
Mission type Test flight
Operator NASA
Harvard designation 1962 Gamma 1
SATCAT no. 240
Mission duration 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds
Distance travelled 121,794 kilometers (65,763 nautical miles)
Orbits completed 3
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft Mercury No.13
Manufacturer McDonnell Aircraft
Launch mass 1,352 kilograms (2,981 lb)
Crew
Crew size 1
Members John H. Glenn, Jr
Callsign Friendship 7
Start of mission
Launch date February 20, 1962, 14:47:39 (1962-02-20UTC14:47:39Z) UTC
Rocket Atlas LV-3B 109-D
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-14
End of mission
Recovered by USS Noa
Landing date February 20, 1962, 19:43:02 (1962-02-20UTC19:43:03Z) UTC
Landing site North Atlantic Ocean
21°20′N 68°40′W / 21.333°N 68.667°W / 21.333; -68.667
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth orbit
Perigee 149 kilometers (80 nautical miles)
Apogee 248 kilometers (134 nautical miles)
Inclination 32.5 degrees
Period 88.47 minutes
Epoch February 20, 1962

Friendship 7 insignia.jpg

Mercury 6, John H Glenn Jr.jpg
John Herschel Glenn, Jr.
Project Mercury
Manned missions

Friendship 7 insignia.jpg

Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was the third human spaceflight for the U.S. and part of Project Mercury. Conducted by NASA on February 20, 1962, the mission was piloted by astronaut John Glenn, who performed three orbits of the Earth, making him the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth.

The Mercury spacecraft, named Friendship 7, was carried to orbit by an Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle lifting off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. After four hours and 56 minutes in flight the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, splashed down in the North Atlantic Ocean and was safely taken aboard USS Noa.

The event was named an IEEE Milestone in 2011.

After the successful completion of the Mercury 5 flight that carried Enos, a chimpanzee, in late November 1961, a press conference was held in early December. Reporters asked NASA's Robert Gilruth who would be the first U.S. astronaut in orbit, piloting Mercury 6. He then announced the team members for the next two Mercury missions. John H. Glenn was selected as prime pilot for the first mission (Mercury 6), with M. Scott Carpenter as his backup. Donald K. Slayton and Walter M. Schirra were pilot and backup, respectively, for the second mission, Mercury 7.


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