Astronaut John H. Glenn Orbits the Earth for America

Government commemorative booklet on John Glenn’s February 20 1962 orbital flight aboard Friendship 7, opening with a full-page portrait of Glenn in his pressure suit.

Interior spreads follow the mission from suiting up and the walk to the gantry, through the Atlas D launch, and a condensation of Glenn’s own account of the flight from his February 23 press conference at Cape Canaveral (the four sunsets, in-flight eating experiments, and the tense re-entry when a possibly loose heat shield kept the retro-package in place longer than planned).

It closes with recovery aboard the USS Noa and transfer to the carrier Randolph, President Kennedy’s presentation of NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal, and the rain-soaked motorcade up Pennsylvania Avenue with Vice President Johnson, Annie Glenn, and children Lyn and David.