Previous to Glenn’s flight the Russians had already placed cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in orbit with Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, and, later, cosmonaut Gherman Titov in orbit on August 6, 1961.

It was a race to the Moon, and the Russians were ahead.

During the flight the spacecraft's computer had problems with controlling the spacecraft, specifically with the stabilization and control system, so Glenn took over manual piloting.

He also had a problem with the heat shield. Sensors indicated it was loose, which could be a major problem if it fell off before or during descent into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The retro pack, which normally was ejected, was left on to help make sure the heat shield would stay in place.

Glenn successfully took care of the problems and Friendship 7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean about 40 miles (60 kilometers) away from the targeted landing area.

The destroyer USS Noa picked up Glenn and the capsule a few minutes later.

Glenn’s ride into space was a giant leap for the United States to become the first nation to step foot on the Moon, which was only seven years away.

For additional information on the historic flight please go to:

NASA’s “Friendship 7 MA-6 (23)” website: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/ma-6/ma-6.htm and

“Friendship-7 Mission: A Major Achievement and a Sign of More to Come” website: http://history.nasa.gov/friendship7/index.html.

Glenn returned to space thirty-six years later when he was a crew member of the space shuttle Discovery and STS-95, which orbited the Earth from October 29 to November 7, 1998.

For more information on John Herschel Glenn Jr., go to

NASA’s website: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/glenn-j.html;

the John and Annie Glenn Historic Site and Exploration Center website: http://www.johnglennhome.org/index.shtml; and

the U.S. Congress website: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000236.

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