20 FEBRUARY 1962
John Glenn becomes the first American in orbit
The US strikes back in the space race with the Soviet Union
Early in the morning of 20 February 1962, John H Glenn sat down for a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs. After undergoing a physical check-up, he donned his silver spacesuit in Hangar S, in what’s now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Florida’s east coast. Then he made the short journey to Launch Complex 14, where the vehicle that would carry him into orbit - and to international fame - awaited him: an Atlas rocket topped by the Mercury spacecraft that he’d named Friendship 7.
In the 1950s, as the Cold War heated up, the US and the Soviet Union had begun a race for space. The Soviets took an early lead in 1957, launching into orbit the
