Mercury-Atlas 6
Still frame of John Glenn in orbit, taken by a motion picture camera inside Friendship 7 | |
| Mission type | Test flight |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Harvard designation | 1962 Gamma 1 |
| COSPAR ID | 1962-003A |
| SATCAT no. | 240 |
| Mission duration | 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 65,763 nautical miles (121,793 km) |
| Orbits completed | 3 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Mercury No.13 |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Aircraft |
| Launch mass | 2,981 pounds (1,352 kg) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 1 |
| Members | John H. Glenn, Jr |
| Callsign | Friendship 7 |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | February 20, 1962, 14:47:39 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas LV-3B 109-D |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-14 |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS Noa |
| Landing date | February 20, 1962, 19:43:02 UTC |
| Landing site | North Atlantic Ocean 21°20′N 68°40′W / 21.333°N 68.667°W |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 80 nautical miles (150 km) |
| Apogee altitude | 134 nautical miles (248 km) |
| Inclination | 32.5 degrees |
| Period | 88.47 minutes |
| Epoch | February 20, 1962 |
Spacecraft name as painted on the capsule side John Herschel Glenn Jr. Project Mercury Crewed missions | |
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was the first crewed American orbital spaceflight, which took place on February 20, 1962. Piloted by astronaut John Glenn and operated by NASA as part of Project Mercury, it was the fifth human spaceflight, preceded by Soviet orbital flights Vostok 1 and 2 and American sub-orbital flights Mercury-Redstone 3 and 4.
The Mercury spacecraft, named Friendship 7, was carried to orbit by an Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle lifting off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. After three orbits, the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, splashed down in the North Atlantic Ocean, and was safely taken aboard USS Noa. The total mission flight time was 4 hours 55 minutes and 23 seconds.