What Happened On February 20th?

Cape Canaveral, Florida buzzed with nervous energy on a Tuesday morning in 1962, as thousands of viewers tapped in to watch the “Friendship 7″ takeoff. Astronaut John Glenn, one of the original “Mercury Seven,” strapped himself into the cramped Mercury capsule, atop a towering Atlas rocket. His mission was to become the first American to orbit the Earth and prove America’s mettle in the tense Cold War space race against the Soviet Union.

At exactly 9:32 AM EST, the Atlas roared to life, pinning Glenn against his seat with G-forces as it shot him skyward. Minutes later, after releasing the capsule, the fiery rocket peeled away, leaving Glenn in exhilarating weightlessness. “The sensation is absolutely delightful,” he reported back to Earth.

Friendship 7 slipped into orbit, circling the planet every 88 minutes. Glenn, mesmerized by the breathtaking view, became the world’s first eyewitness to the Earth’s stunning curvature. He conducted experiments, monitored instruments, and shared his observations, keeping a global audience glued to their radios and televisions.

But danger lurked. Shortly after orbit insertion, an automatic control system malfunctioned, forcing Glenn to take manual control. Similar to the way that Ellen MacArthur handled adversity when sailing solo around the world, Glenn’s calm demeanor and quick thinking, allowed him to guide the spacecraft through this critical situation. Such a display of courage cemented his image as a national hero.

After three tense orbits, the moment of truth arrived: re-entry. The capsule then plunged back into the atmosphere, subjecting Glenn and Friendship 7 to intense heat and G-forces. Communication was lost for agonizing minutes before the reassuring splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 800 miles east of Bermuda. Rescue crews quickly reached the exhausted but exhilarated astronaut.

Hailed as a national hero, his courage and skill injected a much-needed dose of hope and confidence into America’s space program. His iconic words, “God bless America, from the capsule Friendship 7,” resonated deeply with a nation hungry for victory in the space race.

John Glenn’s orbital flight paved the pathway for future missions, including the Apollo program that would eventually land humans (who even hit golf balls) on the Moon. Forevermore, Glenn’s name goes down in history as America’s first orbital hero.