Launch of America's first orbital spaceflight. The Mercury Atlas rocket,carrying astronaut John Glenn,blasts off from Cape Canaveral at the beginning of Mercury mission MA-6 on 20 February 1962. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth on this mission,in his capsule named Friendship 7. The orbit reached 161km x 261km,at an inclination of 32.5 degrees. A telemetry fault gave a false warning that the craft's heatshield was unlocked. The flight was abandoned after just three orbits,and Glenn landed safely - 4 hours 55 minutes after launch. Glenn never went into space again,entering politics after leaving NASA and becoming a US Senator | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / NASA |
Bildgröße: | 3592 px × 5220 px |
Modell-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
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