John Glenn

John Glenn was an American Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and U.S. senator. In 1962, he became the first American to orbit Earth.

Friendship 7: The Mercury spacecraft in which John Glenn completed three Earth orbits on February 20, 1962. This capsule carried Glenn on his first orbital flight.
Orbital mechanics: The study of how gravity and motion determine the paths of objects in space. Glenn’s spacecraft needed the right speed and trajectory to remain in orbit.
Scott Carpenter: An American astronaut who orbited Earth three times aboard Aurora 7 in 1962. Carpenter was Glenn’s fellow Mercury astronaut and a close contemporary.
Space Race: The Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space exploration and technology. Glenn’s orbital flight was a prominent American achievement in this competition.
Yuri Gagarin: A Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human to orbit Earth in 1961. Gagarin orbited Earth before Glenn, who was the first American to do so.
Project Mercury: The first United States human spaceflight program, which flew six astronauts on suborbital and orbital missions from 1961 to 1963. Glenn’s orbital mission was a defining flight in this program.
Atlas LV-3B: The launch vehicle that carried the Mercury spacecraft on John Glenn’s orbital mission. Its rocket stages accelerated Friendship 7 to orbital speed.
Lyndon B. Johnson: The 36th president of the United States, who served as a senator and vice president during Glenn’s early career. Johnson promoted the space program and was a prominent political ally of the astronauts.
United States Senate: The upper chamber of the United States Congress, with two senators representing each state. After leaving NASA, Glenn served Ohio in the Senate for 24 years.
Alan Shepard: An American astronaut who became the first American in space with a suborbital flight in 1961. Shepard reached space first for the United States but did not enter orbit.

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