This is the Mercury spacecraft in which astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth. (The first human to orbit the Earth was USSR's Yuri Gagarin.)
The conical body contains one astronaut, the life support system and the electrical power system. The blunt end consists of an "ablative heatshield" designed to dissipate the large amount of heat generated by atmospheric friction during reentry. The cylindrical section at the opposite end of the spacecraft contains the parachutes used during reentry.
After several cancellations due to weather or technical problems with fuel tanks, the successful launch finally took place on February 20, 1962 and lasted only five minutes.
Friendship 7 went on to fly three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds. During that time John Glenn recorded his observations of the earth from space, the transcipt of which is available at: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/friendship_7_transcript/reentry_transcript.html
He also dealt with the following technical problems : (1) a yaw attitude control jet apparently clogged at the end of the first orbit, forcing Glenn to abandon the automatic control system for the manual-electrical fly-by-wire system; and (2) a faulty switch in the heat shield circuit indicated that the clamp holding the shield had been prematurely released- a signal later found to be false. During reentry, however, the retropack was not jettisoned but retained as a safety measure to hold the heat shield in place in the event it had loosened.
Friendship 7 splashed down in the Atlantic about 40 miles (60 km) short of the planned landing zone. Retrofire calculations had not taken into account spacecraft weight loss due to use of onboard consumables.
However the mission remains a success and John Glenn a national hero. The capsule is on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
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Author(s): Xeri Xie (unknown date prior to 2007 December 31)
