PRESENTATION OUTLINE
THE FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT EARTH
MVP
JOHN GLENN
- United States
On February 20, 1962, NASA launched the Friendship 7 mission. The United States was already in the "space race" at the time, however ,they had still fallen behind. In the hopes of trying to get ahead, they developed a new mission. The goal was to have a man go into space, orbit the earth, and return safely home. John Glenn was selected for this mission.
Before Glenn was able to go on this mission, he was required to meet several criteria and safety precautions. He had to be younger than 40 years old, shorter than 5'11, and have at least 1,500 hours of flying time. In April of 1959 he was selected as one of the many astronauts in the 'Mercury 7' group. Glenn trained for 3 years before actually taking off to orbit the Earth. The mission was more than successful with Glenn orbiting earth 3 times before safely returning home. Glenn was awarded the Space Congressional Medal of Honor and is considered hero today.
