On February 20, 1962, John Herschel Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth, aboard the Mercury spacecraft he named “Friendship 7.” Launched atop an Atlas LV-3B rocket from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 14, Glenn completed three orbits of the Earth in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds. The mission made Glenn an instant national hero and represented a critical milestone in the Space Race with the Soviet Union.

Glenn’s path to orbit was anything but smooth. The launch had been scrubbed ten times over a period of weeks due to weather and technical issues. When he finally lifted off at 9:47 AM EST, the whole nation watched on live television. President John F. Kennedy was among those following the flight closely. During his first orbit, Glenn reported seeing mysterious luminous particles drifting past his window — which he described as “fireflies.” These turned out to be frost flakes from the spacecraft’s exterior, illuminated by sunlight.

The most dramatic moment came when a telemetry signal indicated that the spacecraft’s landing bag had deployed prematurely, suggesting the heat shield might be loose. If true, Glenn would burn up during re-entry. Mission Control decided not to jettison the retropack after the retro burn — normally it would be released, but they hoped the straps would hold the heat shield in place as a precaution. Glenn was not told the full extent of the concern until after the flight. As Friendship 7 plunged back through the atmosphere, Glenn saw flaming chunks of the retropack flying past his window and briefly thought the heat shield was disintegrating. The alarm turned out to be a false signal — the heat shield was secure all along.

Glenn splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by the destroyer USS Noa, which reached him in just 17 minutes. He returned to a hero’s welcome: a ticker-tape parade in New York City, an address to a joint session of Congress, and enduring fame. Scott Carpenter’s words at launch — “Godspeed, John Glenn” — became one of the most iconic phrases in spaceflight history.