The astronaut later described the moment of reentry as being a “real fireball outside.”īy 2:43 p.m. At this point, the astronaut also confirmed that he had not heard any of the noises that would have indicated the deployment of the landing bag.įor four minutes and 20 seconds, John Glenn had zero contact with anyone outside of the spacecraft as it reentered Earth’s upper atmosphere. At this point, Glenn was headed into his third orbit. NASA contacted Glenn asking the brave astronaut to make sure that the landing-bag deploy switch was still sitting in the “off” position. This, of course, caused some concern as this shield was needed for Glenn’s safe return to earth.Įngineers believed this notification to be an error. This means that the heat shield was no longer in place. According to the signal, the aircraft had deployed its landing bag. It was at this point that the controllers on the ground noticed a signal being sent from the spacecraft. NASA Officials Worry About Problems On the Historic Space Flightĭuring his second orbit, John Glenn passed over Cape Canaveral. However, after nearly four hours in the rocketship, Glenn was aboard a rocket that was launching towards the stars. While John Glenn was boarded on the Friendship 7 and ready to go into orbit making history, it would still be hours before take-off. A base that is now known as Florida’s Canaveral Space Force Station. However, on February 20, 1962, Glenn boarded the Friendship 7 in Launch Complex 14 in Florida. Over the next few weeks, the historic flight faced multiple delays. This decision was made as thick clouds that would have prevented the observation rocket’s descent had developed. However, this initial flight schedule was soon postponed. The space flight was initially scheduled to launch on January 27 of that year. Glenn made history aboard the spacecraft he named himself: Friendship 7. On February 20, 1962, the NASA astronaut set forth on NASA’s three-orbit Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. Today, Sunday, February 20, marks 60 years since John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit Earth.

First man to orbit the earth