On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. The ship, Mercury-Atlas 6, or also known as “Friendship 7”, traveled for 4 hours and 55 minutes, and orbited the Earth three times traveling a total distance of 65,763 nautical miles. The launch was scrubbed 3 times, with the fourth try being the successful one. John Glenn lived to 95 and died in December 2016.
