Mercury, Card No 08 (RaceIntoSpace 1971)
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Card No. 08: Mercury
First American to orbit the Earth was Colonel John Glenn. Launched from Cape Canaveral by Mercury-Atlas MA-6 on Feb. 20, 1962, his Mercury capsule Friendship 7 completed three orbits in 4 hours 55 minutes. Two earlier manned Mercury flights – sub-orbital – were launched by Redstone rockets.
Alan Shepard made a 15 minutes 22 seconds ballistic lob over the Atlantic on May 5, 1961 and Virgil Grissom (later killed in the Apollo launch pad fire) made a similar flight on July 21, 1961.
Both were successful but Grissom’s capsule sank after the hatch blew out and it filled with water.
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