76k JPEG Smithsonian Institution photograph #97-16234 by Eric Long	Milestone: First American to orbit the Earth.
	Date of Milestone: February 20, 1962
	Spacecraft: Mercury "Friendship 7"
	Astronaut: John H. Glenn Jr.
	Spacecraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight gallery

The Mercury spacecraft in which astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth. On February 20, 1962, Glenn circled the Earth three times. The space flight lasted 4 hours and 55 minutes. "Friendship 7" landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Spacecraft interior - 82k JPEG Smithsonian photograph #97-162356 by Eric Long

The first person to travel in space, making one orbit on April 12, 1961, was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, followed in August by another cosmonaut Gherman S. Titov, who spent 17 orbits in space. Also in 1961, American astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil I. Grissom achieved suborbital flights to altitudes above 160 kilometers (100 miles). Nevertheless, with this flight John Glenn became a national hero, and Americans gained confidence that they could compete successfully in space with the Soviet Union.

Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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More Information:
Mercury Friendship 7 - Space Artifact Collection