NASA astronaut John Glenn officially became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962 during the Mercury-Atlas (MA) 6 mission. The Friendship 7 spacecraft orbited Earth approximately three times, eventually splashing down near the Turks and Caicos Islands 4-hours, 55 minutes and 23-seconds after liftoff. For those wondering, NASA did send Alan Shepard into space during May 1961, but his flight was only a suborbital lob. Read more to see the launch in full HD and for additional information.
During the start of Glenn’s second orbit, NASA controllers noticed a signal that indicated that his spacecraft’s landing bag had already deployed, which meant that the heat shield required for a safe reentry was no longer in place. They realized that this may have been just an erroneous signal, but they still devised a plan to keep the retrorocket pack on after retrofire to have the straps keep the heat shield secured. Fortunately, all went as planned and Friendship 7 splashed down near Grand Turk Island at 2:43pm EST.
LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V 92176 Outer Space Model Rocket for Kids and Adults, Science Building Kit (1969 Pieces)
- Bring to life the rocket launch that took humans to the moon with the meter-high (approximately 1: 110 scale) model rocket of the NASA Apollo Saturn V
- The Saturn V rocket kit includes 3 removable rocket stages (first, s-ii second, and s-ivb third) below the launch escape system, command and service module; Plus, there are 2 minifigures to accompany the Lunar Lander and splashdown rocket toy
- After building the Saturn V rocket, you can display the spacecraft horizontally with 3 stands; The Lunar Lander docks with the command and service modules while the Lunar Orbiter sends the rocket into space
- Recreate space adventures with this NASA toy and action figures based off of the included booklet about the manned Apollo Moon missions and the fan designers of this build and play set
- This spaceship toy measures over 39-inches (100cm) high and 6-inches (17cm) in diameter; It includes 1,969 pieces and is ideal for boys and girls 14 years or older
Mercury also set the stage for Projects Gemini and Apollo during the 1960s and all later U.S. human spaceflight activities. Thus, the MA-6 mission of Friendship 7 was both a capstone event and the beginning of many more achievements in human spaceflight for NASA,” said the agency.
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