Friendship Seven.

"Godspeed, John Glenn!"

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the first manned orbital spaceflight undertaken by the United States, the third in the Mercury series. Major Glenn made three orbits during a mission that lasted nearly four hours, before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean and his subsequent recovery aboard the USS Noa.

The flight was not without drama: it was feared that the ablative heatshield had become detached from the spacecraft and was only held in position by the retro-rocket package so re-entry was made with it still attached, however it was later shown that a false reading was made by the onboard instruments.

Glenn became a US Senator in 1974, and made his second spaceflight aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1998 - becoming the oldest person to go into space at the age of 77.