Mercury-Atlas 6

Crew

John Glenn

Pilot

Status: Deceased
7/18/1921 - 12/8/2016
Nationality: American
Type: Government
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Colonel John Herschel Glenn Jr. was a United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a Democratic United States Senator from Ohio.

Mission

Mercury-Atlas 6

Type: Human Exploration

Mercury-Atlas 6 was the third crewed spaceflight for the United States. The spacecraft, named Friendship 7, completed three orbits making John Glenn the first United States astronaut to orbit Earth. The mission lasted for 4 hours, 55 minutes & 23seconds.

Location

Space Launch Complex 14

Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

209 launches have been at this location.

Rocket

Atlas

Length: 28.7 meters
Diameter: 3 meters
First Launched: July 29, 1960

The Atlas LV-3B, Atlas D Mercury Launch Vehicle or Mercury-Atlas Launch Vehicle, was a human-rated expendable launch system used as part of the United States Project Mercury to send astronauts into low Earth orbit. Manufactured by American aircraft manufacturing company Convair, it was derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile, and was a member of the Atlas family of rockets.

The Atlas rocket has been launched a total of 7 times with 6 successful and 1 failed launches.

Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Type: Government
Abbreviation: NASA
Administration: Administrator: Jim Bridenstine
Founded: 1958
Launchers: Space Shuttle | SLS
Spacecraft: Orion
Country: USA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.