Recalling John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mission: First American to Orbit the Earth | NASA

Recalling John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mission: 1st American to Orbit Earth | NASA 

"The more I thought about it, the more I leaned toward the name Friendship. Flying around the world, over all those countries, that was the message I wanted to convey." 
–Astronaut John Glenn on how he and his family chose the name for his MA-6 spacecraft.

On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 Mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth. He was the third American, and the fifth person, to be in space. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1962, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Learn more about John Glenn:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/john-glenn/

Learn about NASA's Project Mercury:

https://www.nasa.gov/project-mercury/

Image Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: Feb. 2, 1962

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Astronaut #JohnGlenn #Astronaut #Friendship7Mission #MA6Spacecraft #MercuryAstronauts #ProjectMercury #UnitedStates #HumanSpaceflight #History #STEM #Education