The Mercury Spacecraft: Friendship 7 Facts That Will Astonish Your Kid

You must have seen videos of astronauts floating inside the International Space Station but the space history that we have today is a result of continuous efforts.

One such remarkable effort was by NASA in 1962. The achievement made by NASA came to be known as Friendship 7.

John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in this NASA spacecraft. The whole world remembers this great achievement every year. It stands as a great moment in history for the United States also this is the reason that he received a ticker-tape parade welcome in New York City.

You might have lots of questions about this famous space mission. What is the Mercury spacecraft mission Friendship 7? What did they achieve? When did John Glenn go on his journey to orbit the Earth?

Let's find out the answers to these questions and more in this article. Keep reading to get to know some fun facts about the Mercury spacecraft and this space mission from NASA. Which fact is your favorite?

When is the anniversary of Friendship 7 celebrated?

Every year on February 20, the space world celebrates and remembers the greatest achievement of the Mercury spacecraft and the astronaut John Glenn. The anniversary of the Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7 is celebrated on this day. Learn more about this famous space mission here.

On February 20, 1962, by completing the three orbits, John Glenn became the first American to do so in space history.

John Glenn Jr became the first American to orbit the Earth. But this great achievement isn’t the sole effort of John Glenn, there is a team that worked together to achieve this great milestone in history.

The National Air and Space Museum has showcased the achievement of the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 in its Boeing milestones of the flight hall so that the coming generation could see and appreciate this US space program.

This Mercury Atlas launch vehicle called Friendship 7 and its achievement through the space program helped NASA and the US to have an upper hand in the space race. The space race with the Soviet Union started long before the Friendship 7 mission.

In October 1957, the Soviet Union had the launch vehicle sputnik that sent Yuri Gagarin into space. In response to this NASA had sent the first American Alan Shepard into space. But he was not able to orbit Earth fully.

With Friendship 7 and John H Glenn Jr, NASA was able to keep up in the space race. The Mercury program had three objectives with this space mission. One, to have a piloted spacecraft, which is the Mercury spacecraft that orbits the Earth.

Two, to observe how human performance is in this situation. Three, to recover the human and the Mercury spacecraft safely. The Mercury program of NASA is a huge success since all these objectives were possible through the Friendship 7.

The Significance Of Friendship 7

The significance of Friendship 7 in American history is irreplaceable. The Mercury missions not only made John H Glenn Jr the first American to orbit the earth, but it also made NASA a strong competitor in the space race. The mission's success had many consequences, and you can learn more about them here.

The success of the Mercury spacecraft also made it possible for NASA to have more mercury missions in the future. The mercury showed the world that people could survive in the microgravity in the Earth’s atmosphere without losing any physiological functions.

The Mercury spacecraft along with John H Glenn Jr helped for the other space flight in the future. Friendship 7 was more of a beginning step to many more achievements for NASA.

John Glenn became the national hero by this achievement. John Glenn was a great marine aviator.

Glen flew combat missions in World War II and the Korean war. After the successful flight, John H Glenn received many praises for his achievement. President Kennedy praised him immensely for his space efforts.

He did so in a speech he delivered at Rice University after the Mercury spacecraft's success. John Glenn was given the space congressional medal of honor by President Kennedy and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama for his achievement in the US space program.

John H Glenn Jr was the fifth human in space and the third American in space. The mission meant a lot to NASA.

It is not easy to prepare something as grand as this. A whole team was dedicated to this Mercury spacecraft mission and the success is a celebration of the efforts of all of these people.

With this space flight, the US also took a huge step in terms of its space program. all around the world, the country became capable of being a fierce contender in the space race. The significance of this mission in space history and also US history is worth huge acknowledgment.

Moreover, project mercury was a precursor to the Apollo missions for lunar landings. So, we can regard this whole mission as one of the greatest achievements of the USA as well as the entire humankind.

The Mission's Duration

Going into space and coming back is not the same as going out for groceries. There is a lot of risks involved. In the case of the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7, what was the mission like and how long did it take? Find out the answers to these questions and more here!

John Glenn was strapped into the space capsule. The space capsule was propelled into the Earth's orbit by the Atlas launch vehicle. After the launch, John Glenn went three orbits around the earth, after the three orbits, Glenn returned back to the Earth.

The flight took four hours 55 minutes and 23 seconds for this whole mission. But the mission was not as easy as it sounds. During the flight of Friendship 7, there was an automatic control system failure after the first orbit.

So, John Glenn had to switch to manual control during the second orbit, third orbit, and the re-entry of the flight. The heat shield of the Friendship 7 had scars from its re-entry back to Earth. The heat shield protected Friendship 7 and John Glenn from burning up.

During the flight, there were also concerns that the heat shield was loose. But thankfully, it was fine. Friendship 7 landed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Although the flight had some panic moments, the experience and courage of John Glenn played an important role in making the flight a successful one. His marine corps training was certainly visible during the control system failure incident.

He handled the situation very well. The scratch attained by the heat shield and the whole Friendship 7 vehicle can be seen at The National Air and Space Museum today.

Interesting Friendship 7 Facts

The Mercury Atlas flight of Friendship 7 has some interesting facts that are worth knowing. What are some of the interesting Mercury Atlas Friendship 7 facts? Find out here!

Do you know that there was a fourth orbit of Friendship 7? But the fourth orbit did not happen in space.

In 1962, NASA lent the Friendship 7 aircraft to the United States Information Agency for a world tour. This world tour is known as the fourth orbit of Friendship 7. The achievements of John Glenn did not end with the Mercury Atlas.

In 1998, he became the oldest human to fly as a crew member in the space shuttle discovery. Did you know that the nickname Friendship 7 was actually given to the Mercury Atlas spacecraft by John Glenn himself? He was very excited to be on this space flight mission.

The Mercury Atlas mission had been delayed several times. The launch was supposed to be on January 16, 1962.

Due to the problems in the Atlas rocket fuel tank, it was delayed. The second time, people were gathered at the launch site in Cape Canaveral to witness the launch of the flight but it got delayed again due to bad weather.

The next time, Cape Canaveral was ready for the launch, but a fuel leak was discovered.

Finally, after many delays, the flight was launched from Cape Canaveral on February 20, 1962. Another fact about the launch of the space flight is that the capsule communicator Scott Carpenter had said the famous words "Godspeed John Glenn" but due to the glitch in Glenn’s radio, he didn’t actually hear this phrase.

The whole space mission of Friendship 7 had some risky and scary moments. But do you know what John Glenn said after he got out of the spacecraft? "It was hot in there!".

Clearly, the man was perfect for the mission. The words he said after creating history in space are amusing.

There is also a movie scene that is inspired by the mission control of John Glenn and the achievement of the NASA spacecraft. The movie ‘The Right Stuff’ by Philip Kaufman released in 1983 includes scenes that actually happened to the spacecraft, even the dialogues said by Glenn are repeated here.

The character of John Glenn was played by Ed Harris in the movie.