Quintessential American Hero Takes America to Earth Orbit

February 17, 2022

Project Mercury: America’s First Step in Space – Part 3

By Bob Granath

“Liftoff, the clock is operating. We’re underway,” NASA astronaut John Glenn announced as he launched to as the first American to orbit the Earth. His spacecraft’s onboard mission elapsed time clock began counting his minutes in flight as he was boosted from Florida’s East Coast on Feb. 20, 1962 – 60 years ago.

*Mercury Astronaut John Glenn Photo credit: NASA*

America’s Cold War rival, the Soviet Union, launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space circling the world once on April 12, 1961. Glenn’s fellow Original Seven Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom soon followed with short 15-minute sub-orbital spaceflights. But, the people of the United States were eager to see one of their countrymen duplicate the Russian’s feat.

*The Atlas rocket for the Mercury Atlas-6 mission is raised into position at Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA*

An Ohio native, Glenn served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and in the Korean conflict. As a test pilot, Glenn set a transcontinental speed record for a jet aircraft in 1957. Two years later, he was selected as a member of NASA’s first group of astronauts.

Following the successful suborbital flights of Shepard and Grissom boosted by Redstone rockets, NASA was ready to send Glenn all the way to orbit using the more powerful Atlas, a modified intercontinental ballistic missile.

During Glenn’s 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds, in space, Americans were glued to their televisions watching network coverage of the historic event. After his three-orbit mission, the U.S. Marine Corps colonel returned to Earth as the quintessential American hero.

‘Godspeed John Glenn’

*John Glenn works in the procedures simulator in preparation for the Mercury Atlas-6 mission. Photo credit: NASA*

The original launch date was set for Jan. 16, 1962, but was rescheduled by four days due to problems with the launch vehicle fuel tanks. Glenn climbed aboard the Mercury capsule on Jan. 27, but the launch was postponed again because of low clouds. The mission date slipped until Feb. 1, and then pushed to Feb. 14, then another delay. Finally, the Florida winter weather cleared.

Glenn was strapped into the spacecraft he named Friendship 7 on Feb. 20. As the sun rose over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 14, flight controllers worked through last-minute problems.

“Godspeed John Glenn,” fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter said from the launch pad blockhouse control room.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 20, 2962, John Glenn departs the crew quarters at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Hangar S. He is accompanied by the astronauts’ flight surgeon, Dr. Bill Douglas. Photo credit: NASA

Tens of thousands watched from nearby Cocoa Beach as the powerful Atlas roared to life and the Mercury Atlas-6 mission rose into the sky. As his 2,981-pound spacecraft separated from the Atlas booster, Glenn reported that he was safely in orbit.

“Zero g and I feel fine,” he said. “Capsule is turning around. I can see the booster during turn arounds a couple of hundred yards behind me. It was beautiful.”

Shepard and Grissom each spent about five minutes in weightlessness, but some doctors worried about what would happen to someone spending hours in space. Glenn helped answer that question.

*Inside the white room near the top of the Launch Complex 14 gantry, John Glenn squeezes himself into the Mercury space he named Friendship 7. Photo credit: NASA*

“I have adjusted to zero g very easily,” he said, “easier than I thought I would.”

Glenn also demonstrated the ability to spot objects on Earth. As he passed over the Muchea, Australia tracking station, astronaut Gordon Cooper was the capsule communicator, known as capcom. He told Glenn to look for city lights below.

“I could see a big pattern of light, apparently right on the coast and I can see a small light of a town just to the south,” he said.

The Atlas rocket for the Mercury-6 mission lifts off at 9:47 a.m. EST on Feb. 20, 1962 boosting John Glenn as the first American to orbit the Earth. — *The Atlas rocket for the Mercury 6 mission lifts off at 9:47 a.m. EST on Feb. 20, 1962. Photo credit: NASA*

“That is Perth and Rockingham you’re seeing there,” said Cooper.

The Mercury spacecraft was equipped with an attitude control and stabilization system, or ASCS, that allowed astronauts to adjust the way the capsule was pointed. With a hand controller, he could change the pitch, yaw and roll. It also was designed to keep the spacecraft stabilized in one direction.

Occasionally, the ASCS caused Friendship 7 to yaw to the right or to the left. However, Glenn was able to override the system as needed.

“The fact that the pilot is aboard and has the ability to analyze this problem and take judgmental corrective action is a demonstration of the value of man in spaceflight,” said John “Shorty” Powers, director of Public Affairs for NASA’s Space Task Group and mission commentator for the Mercury flights.

‘Fireflies’

During the mission of John Glenn aboard Friendship 7, flight controllers follow progress concentrating on their area of responsibility. The large world map displays the path followed by the capsule with tracking station shown. Photo credit: NASA

As Glenn’s spacecraft began its first pass over the Pacific Ocean, he experienced his first orbital sunrise. However, he also reported something unexpected to the Canton Island tacking station.

“The only really unusual thing besides ASCS trouble, were the little particles, luminous particles, around the capsule, just thousands of them, right at sunrise over the Pacific,” he said.

Glenn reported that the particles only appeared at sunrise and were “yellowish green in color” and looked like “fireflies.”

“What did they say, John?” jokingly asked Dr. George Ruff, NASA’s staff psychiatrist, during post-flight debriefings. The “fireflies” remained a mystery until the next Mercury flight.

John Glenn took this image of Florida during his flight on Feb. 20, 1962. Photo credit: NASA/John Glenn

During Mercury 7 on May 24, 1962, Carpenter reported the same phenomenon except he said the particles looked more like “snowflakes.” Turned out it was frost from condensation on the side of the spacecraft that flaked off when ASCS thrusters fired, vibrating the capsule.

*An automatic camera photographs John Glenn during his three-orbit flight. He is using a Minolta Hi-Matic camera to take pictures of the Earth. Photo credit: NASA*

As Friendship 7 passed over Cape Canaveral, site of the Mercury Control Center, an ominous signal was detected as he began his second orbit.

“We do have a valid impact bag signal up at this time,” Telemetry Flight Systems controller Don Arabian reported to Flight Director Chris Kraft.

The Mercury spacecraft was designed to have the heatshield on the bottom of the capsule drop down about four feet connected with a rubberized impact bag to help cushion the impact when it landed in the ocean. It would drop as the spacecraft was descending under its main parachute. But, if it came loose before the fiery 3,000 degrees F temperatures of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, the result could be catastrophic.

A Faulty Signal?

“My gut told me instantly that it was a faulty signal,” Kraft wrote in his 2001 book Flight. “How could all of that happen without Glenn hearing something?”

*The Mercury spacecraft was equipped with and attitude control and stabilization system so the astronaut could change the capsule’s pitch, yaw and roll. Photo credit: NASA*

Capcoms at several tracking stations were directed to ask Glenn if heard anything banging. He had not.

But, Mercury Program Manager Walt Williams immediately consulted with the spacecraft’s primarily designer, Max Faget (pronounced fah-ZHAY), and John Yardley, chief engineer for McDonnell Aircraft, the contractor that built the Mercury spacecraft. They recommended leaving the retro pack attached to the heat shield after it was fired to begin re-entry.

The solid-propellant engines of the retro pack were held in place by three metal straps. Faget believed that might hold the heat shield in place if it had, in fact, come loose. Williams agreed with leaving the pack on through the meteor-like re-entry.

*Mercury Program Manager Walt Williams, left, confers with Flight Director Chris Kraft in the Flight Control Room at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA*

“Chris, it should be OK,” Faget said reassuring Kraft. “We designed the heatshield with plenty of margin.”

Vigorous discussions continued through the second and third orbits.

As Glenn approached the West Coast of the United States on his final orbit, NASA astronaut Wally Schirra, the capcom at the Point Arguello, California tracking station, spoke with his orbiting colleague as the three retro rockets fired in the direction of Friendship 7’s flight. This slowed the spacecraft so gravity would begin pulling Glenn back to Earth.

“Retros are firing,” Glenn said. “Feels like I’m going back toward Hawai’i.”

The Mercury spacecraft’s retro package was held in place by three metal straps, as seen on this replica of the capsule on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. During descent on a parachute, the heatshield was designed to drop connected with an impact bag to help cushion landing in the ocean. — The Mercury spacecraft’s retro package was held in place by three metal straps, as seen on the left on a replica of the capsule on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. During descent on a parachute, the heatshield was designed to drop connected with an impact bag to help cushion landing in the ocean, as seen on the right. Left photo credit: Ciar Diagram — Photo on right: NASA

Schirra responded, “Don’t do that. You want to go to the East Coast.”

Then, Schirra instructed Glenn to keep his retro pack on through his pass over the Texas tracking station. This bought a little more time for the team in Mercury Control at the Cape.

Kraft was convinced it was an instrumentation failure. He believed re-entering with the retro pack on was risky. Williams, the flight director’s boss, agreed with Faget.

“We’re coming in with the (retro) pack on,” Williams instructed Kraft.

*John Glenn and Friendship 7 safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean at 2:43 p.m. EST on Feb. 20, 1962 after 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds in flight. Photo credit: NASA*

At the time, Glenn had not been told about the concern.

“We are recommending that the retro package not, I say again, not be jettisoned,” said the Texas capcom.

“What is the reason for this?” Glenn asked. “Do you have any reason?”

“This is the judgement of Cape Flight (Kraft),” the Texas capcom responded.

As Glenn and his capsule came in contact with Mercury Control, Shepard, the capcom there, explained.

“We are not sure whether or not your landing bag has deployed,” Shepard said. “We feel that it is possible to re-enter with your retro package on. We see no difficulty at this time with that type of re-entry.”

Crews aboard the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Noa lift Friendship 7, with John Glenn aboard, to the ship’s deck. — *The crew aboard the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Noa lift Friendship 7, with John Glenn aboard, to the ship’s deck. Photo credit: NASA*

When Mercury engineers examined Friendship 7 after it was returned to Cape Canaveral, the heatshield switches were thoroughly examined. It was as Kraft had suspected.

“One switch was mis-rigged and was sending a bad signal,” Kraft said. “There had been nothing wrong up there at all.”

As Friendship 7 began coming through the atmosphere, the fiery heat built a “cocoon” of plasma that blocked radio transmissions to and from the spacecraft.

“This is Friendship 7, I think the pack just let go,” Glenn said, into his onboard voice recorder. But no one on the ground heard the message.

During the radio silence, all the flight controllers could do was wait. Shepard tried to contact Glenn.

“Friendship 7, this is Cape. How do you read?” Shepard asked again and again.

During John Glenn’s fourth sunset of the day, he retrieves his flight log from his Mercury spacecraft before being transferred from the USS Noa to the aircraft carrier USS Randolph. Photo credit: NASA

Then . . .

“Loud and clear, how me?” Glenn finally responded. “My condition is good, but that was a real fireball, boy. I had great chucks of the retro pack breaking off all the way through.”

Glenn and his spacecraft safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean about 40 miles short of the target where the aircraft carrier USS Randolph was waiting. Calculations prior to retrofire had not taken into account spacecraft loss of weight due to use of onboard consumables such as thruster propellant.

The crew of the U.S. Navy destroyer, USS Noa, saw the spacecraft descending on its parachute splashing down about six miles away. Friendship 7 was lifted by a crane to the ship’s deck 17 minutes later.

Following the nearly five-hour mission, Glenn returned before sundown. His comments aboard the recovery ship typically understated the historic event.

“I don’t know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunrises and sunsets,” he said.

A Hero’s Welcome

Following a ceremony at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Hangar S, John Glenn, right, describes his Friendship 7 spacecraft to President John F. Kennedy. — *Following a ceremony at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Hangar S, John Glenn, right, describes his Friendship 7 spacecraft to President John F. Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA*

Three days after the mission, Glenn returned to a hero’s welcome at the Cape. A ceremony included President John F. Kennedy presenting him NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal.

Glenn resigned from NASA on Jan. 16, 1964 and was elected to the U.S. Senate from his home state of Ohio a decade later. In 1998, he returned to space as a payload specialist with the STS-95 crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

During the celebrations of Glenn’s 1962 flight as the first American in orbit, he addressed a joint session of Congress.

“We are all proud to have been privileged to be part this effort, to represent our country as we have,” he said. “As our knowledge of the universe in which we live increases, may God grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of feature articles marking the 60th anniversary of Project Mercury. Beginning with test flights in 1959 and culminating in America’s first human orbital space missions, the program proved astronauts could be launched into space, perform useful work and safely return. In May 2022, read about America’s second orbital spaceflight.

In early March, read more about John Glenn’s return to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Glenn’s Flight Celebrated with ‘Secret’ Postage Stamp

By Bob Granath

Celebrations of John Glenn’s achievement were extensive. After the historic orbital flight, the astronaut was honored with a parade through the streets of Cocoa Beach, Florida. There was a tickertape parade in New York City and Glenn addressed a joint session of Congress. One event occurred immediately after his successful recovery. The U.S. Post Office Department issued a postage stamp commemorating the historic event.

*John Glenn, his wife, Annie, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson ride through the streets of New York City during a tickertape parade on March 1, 1962. Photo credit: NASA*

“It is the first time in history that a previously unannounced commemorative stamp was issued simultaneously with the event it memorializes,” Post Office Department said in a news release. “Designed and printed under tight security precautions at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the stamp was distributed well in advance of the flight to more than 300 large postal installations, where it was held until the flight was completed. None of the postmasters knew what the closely guarded packages contained until the word was given from Washington (to begin selling the stamps).”

News of the release of the 4-cent Project Mercury stamp was announced on radio and television. It immediately went on sale in 305 post offices within an hour of Glenn’s splashdown at 2:43 p.m. EST on Feb. 20, 1962.

Plans for the Project Mercury stamp began well before the mission launched. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing kept word about the stamp production a closely guarded secret in the event the mission failed to go as planned or was canceled, Consequently, the designer, Charles Chickering, developed the artwork at home.

When the stamps were delivered, they were shipped in containers with combination locks and marked “Classified Material, Do Not Open.” Only after Glenn was safely aboard the recovery ship were postmasters permitted to open the package and begin selling the stamps.

*News publications across the United States hailed the heroic mission of astronaut John Glenn. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChronicle.com*

When a new postage stamp is issued, it ordinarily is released in a city relevant to who or what is being commemorated and it is only available in that city on the “First Day of Issue.” The next day, the new stamp can be purchased at any other post office. This time, it was sold in the designated sites.

The location of the official first-day cancellations for the Project Mercury stamp was Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, the local post office at the time was Port Canaveral. The post office did not change to Cape Canaveral until Sept. 1, 1962.

To accommodate appropriate cancellations, the Post Office Department set up a U.S. Air Force van as a temporary Cape Canaveral postal substation of the Cocoa, Florida Post Office at 3:30 p.m. on the date of Glenn’s flight. Because the event was anticipated to be very popular, 289 million stamps were printed, more than twice the average amount for commemorative postage issues of that time.