FRIENDSHIP 7: THE ORBIT THAT UNITED A NATION

On February 20, 1962, the United States stopped what it was doing and looked up. John Glenn was about to become the first American to orbit the Earth.

THE MISSION AMERICA STOPPED TO WATCH

After weeks of delays, the Mercury-Atlas rocket carrying Friendship 7 finally lifted off from the Cape with an estimated 100 million people following along.

Schools rolled televisions into classrooms. The country effectively paused.

THREE ORBITS

Glenn circled the Earth three times in 4 hours and 55 minutes, becoming the first American to see a sunrise from orbit — he saw three of them.

He famously reported mysterious glowing 'fireflies' outside his window, later identified as ice particles catching the sun.

THE HEAT SHIELD SCARE

Late in the flight, a sensor suggested Friendship 7's heat shield might be loose.

Mission Control ordered Glenn to keep his retrorocket pack strapped on through reentry to help hold the shield in place. The sensor turned out to be faulty — but for several minutes of radio blackout, no one on Earth knew if he'd made it.

HERO'S RETURN

Glenn splashed down safely and received the largest ticker-tape parade since Lindbergh.

America wasn't just in the space race anymore. It believed it could win.

FRIENDSHIP 7 WASN'T JUST A FLIGHT — IT WAS THE DAY AMERICA STARTED BELIEVING.