NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

50 Years Since Historic Glenn Flight

Mercury astronaut John Glenn poses for a photo in front of the Project Mercury monument at Launch Complex-14 LC-14 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

During events at the Cape and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Glenn is marking the 50th anniversary of being the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth inside the Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962.

Image credit: NASAKim Shiflett
Feb. 18, 2012