February 20, 2012

John Glenn orbits Earth 50 years ago

Astronaut John Glenn orbits the Earth in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft on Feb. 20, 1962. Twenty years later, U.S. Sen. John Glenn appears in Sikeston, Mo. on behalf of Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau, 8th District Democratic candidate.

Associated Press and Southeast Missourian archive

This Feb. 20, 1962 photo made available by NASA shows astronaut John Glenn during his space flight in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, weightless and traveling at 17,500 mph. The image was made by an automatic sequence motion picture camera. (AP Photo/NASA)

In this Friday, May 10, 1963 file photo, astronaut John Glenn performs a test in the telemetry control room aboard the NASA tracking ship, the Coastal Sentry, with the Mercury communication center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo)

In this Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998 image made from video provided by NASA, U.S. Sen. John Glenn, right, speaks to mission control during an experiment, assisted by astronaut Scott Parazynski, left, as Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque eats from a food packet aboard the space shuttle Discovery. (AP Photo/NASA TV)

John Glenn, left, and wife Annie talk to well wishers on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 in Columbus. Glenn spoke Friday at ceremonial signing of a new state law that marks Feb. 20 as "John Glenn Friendship 7 Day." He piloted the "Friendship 7" spacecraft on the United States' first manned orbital mission on Feb. 20, 1962. (AP Photo/Columbus Dispatch, Fred Squillante)

In this Jan. 25, 2012 photo, Sen. John Glenn talks about the controller of Friendship 7 and how he used it to manually control the spacecraft when the thruster failed while touring his office in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around the planet three times in 1962. Glenn, as a U.S. senator at age 77, also became the oldest person in space by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

This Jan. 25, 2012 photo shows Sen. John Glenn at his office in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around the planet three times in 1962. Glenn, as a U.S. senator at age 77, also became the oldest person in space by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

In this Jan. 25, 2012 photo, Sen. John Glenn speaks during an interview at his office in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around the planet three times in 1962. Glenn, as a U.S. senator at age 77, also became the oldest person in space by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

On Sept. 11, 1982, U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio shook the hand of an admirer following his appearance as keynote speaker at a breakfast in Sikeston, Mo., for 8th District Democratic congressional candidate Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau, at right. About 400 Democratic supporters turned out to hear the former astronaut criticize the economic polices of the Reagan administration. (Southeast Missourian archive)

On Sept. 11, 1982, U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio spoke at a breakfast in Sikeston, Mo., for 8th District Democratic congressional candidate Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau. Seated at left is Ford. (Southeast Missourian archive)

Democratic politicians lined up with U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio, who spoke at a breakfast for 8th District congressional candidate Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau on Sept. 11, 1982, at Sikeston, Mo. Left to right are U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, Glenn, Ford, U.S. Senate candidate Harriett Woods, state auditor candidate James R. Butler and Missouri Democratic Party chairman Pat Lea of Sikeston. (Southeast Missourian archive)

In this Jan. 11, 1961 file photo, Marine Lt. Col. John Glenn, in a space flight suit, reaches for some of the controls inside a Mercury capsule procedures trainer as he shows how the first U.S. astronaut will ride through space during a demonstration at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research Center in Langley Field, Va. (AP Photo)

This 1961 file photo provided by NASA shows the original seven Mercury astronauts in their silver spacesuits. First row, from left are Walter Schirra Jr., Donald Slayton, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. In the back row are Alan Shepard, Jr., Virgil Grissom and Gordon Cooper. (AP Photo/NASA, File)

In this Jan. 27, 1962 file photo, astronaut John Glenn stands on the 11th deck of the service tower after his orbital attempt was postponed at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Reflected in his chest mirror is the spacecraft from which he has just emerged. (AP Photo/Nasa)

In this Feb. 20, 1962 photo provided by NASA, astronaut John Glenn climbs into the Friendship 7 space capsule atop an Atlas rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. for the flight which made him the first American to orbit the earth. (AP Photo/NASA)

In this Feb. 20, 1962 file photo the Atlas rocket carrying the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla., piloted by Col. John Glenn Jr. - the first American to orbit the earth. Glenn orbited three times around the globe at 17,400 miles an hour. (AP Photo/NASA)

In this Feb. 23, 1962 file photo, astronaut John Glenn, left, and President John F. Kennedy, center, inspect the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule which Glenn rode in orbit. At right is Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Kennedy presented the Distinguished Service Medal to Glenn at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo)

In this Feb. 26, 1962 file photo, Mercury astronaut John Glenn, and his wife, Annie, ride in the back of an open car with Vice-President Johnson during a parade in Glenn's honor in Washington. The Capitol is seen in the background. (AP Photo)

In this Feb. 8, 1963 file photo, astronaut John Glenn sits with models of the Mercury spaceship atop its launch rocket and a lunar module, representing the past and the future of space exploration as he talks about the first anniversary of his historic flight. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky)

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Astronaut John Glenn orbits the Earth in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft on Feb. 20, 1962. Twenty years later, U.S. Sen. John Glenn appears in Sikeston, Mo. on behalf of Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau, 8th District Democratic candidate.

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