On Feb. 20, 1962 at 9:47 am EST, John Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14 to become the first American to orbit the Earth. In this image, Glenn enters his Friendship 7 capsule with assistance from technicians to begin his historic flight.
Glenn rejoined NASA in 1998 as a member of the STS-95 Discovery crew. This 9-day mission, from Oct. 29-Nov. 7, supported a variety of research payloads including deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform and investigations on space flight and the aging process.
Image Credit: NASA
I admire Glenn, but was really angry when he was chosen (or lobbied) to go on the shuttle mission. I think Chuck Yeager should have been selected to make the trip.
Glenn, along with John McCain, was implicated (and both were later exonerated) in the Keating Five scandal and was reprimanded for "poor judgment". It forever tarnished his otherwise honorable career, IMO.
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