This document summarizes the Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) mission, which launched American astronaut John Glenn into orbit on February 20, 1962. The mission objectives were to launch an American into earth orbit, bring the astronaut and spacecraft back to earth, and study human survivability in space. Glenn completed three orbits before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean after a flight time of 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds. Key events of the mission included launch, orbital operations, retrofire and reentry, parachute deployment, and recovery of Glenn and the capsule. This mission helped advance NASA's Mercury program and provided valuable data for future missions.

5. The Heat Shield is a protective layer that protects the craft from the heat of re-entry An instrument was giving incorrect information that the spacecraft’s heat shield and the compressed landing bag were no longer locked in position

6. The friendship 7 landed in the Atlantic Ocean, 40 miles from the predicted area. This occurred because the retrofire calculations did not take into account the loss of weight from consumables The Mercury Atlas 6 was rescued from the Atlantic Ocean by the USS Noa. Splashdown was achieved on February 20 1962 at 2:43pm

8. This mission was part of many others and information gained from this mission helped in the development of future mercury missions and projects like the Apollo and Gemini. The Mercury Atlas 6 was a mission that was part of the Mercury Project for a manned American spacecraft

10. T+ Time Event Description T+00:00:00 Liftoff Mercury-Atlas lifts off, onboard clock starts. T+00:00:02 Roll Program Mercury-Atlas rotates along its axis 2.5 deg/s from 30 to 0 deg. T+00:00:16 Pitch Program Mercury-Atlas begins a 0.5 deg/s pitch from 90 to 0 deg. T+00:00:30 Radio Guidance Lock General Electric-Burroughs guidance system locks onto radio transponder in Atlas booster to guide the vehicle until orbit insertion. T+00:01:24 Max Q Maximum dynamic pressure 980 lbf/ft² T+00:02:10 BECO Atlas Booster Engine Cutoff. Booster engines drop away.

11. T+00:02:25 Tower Jettison Escape Tower Jettison, no longer needed. T+00:02:33 Atlas Pitchover After tower separation, vehicle pitches over further. T+00:05:20 SECO Atlas Sustainer Engine Cutoff, capsule reaches orbit, velocity 17,547 mph (7,844 m/s) T+00:05:24 Capsule Separation Posigrade rockets fire for 1 s giving 15 ft/s (4.57 m/s) separation. T+00:05:25 5 second Rate Damping ASCS damps capsule rates for 5 seconds in preparation for turnaround maneuver. T+00:05:25 Turnaround Maneuver Capsule (ASCS) system rotates capsule 180 degrees, to heat shield forward attitude. Nose is pitched down 34 degrees to retro fire position. T+00:05:30 T+04:30:00 Orbital Operations Orbital operations and experiments for 3 orbits.

12. T+04:30:00 Retro Sequence Start Retrofire in 30 s. (ASCS) checks for proper retro attitude -34 deg pitch, 0 deg yaw, 0 deg roll. T+04:30:30 Retrofire Three retro rockets fire for 10 seconds each. They are started at 5 second intervals, firing overlaps for a total of 20 s. Delta V of 550 ft/s (168 m/s) is taken off forward velocity. T+04:35:45 Retract Periscope Periscope is automatically retracted in preparation for reentry. T+04:36:20 Retro Attitude Maneuver (ASCS) orients capsule in 34 degrees nose down pitch, 0 degrees roll, 0 degrees yaw. T+04:42:15 .05 G Maneuver (ASCS) detects beginning of reentry and rolls capsule at 10 deg/s to stabilize capsule during reentry.

13. T+04:49:38 Drogue Parachute Deploy Drogue parachute deployed at 22,000 ft (6.7 km) slowing descent to 365 ft/s (111 m/s) and stabilizing capsule. T+04:49:45 Snorkel Deploy Fresh air snorkel deploys at 20,000 ft (6 km) ECS switches to emergency oxygen rate to cool cabin. T+04:50:15 Main Parachute Deploy Main parachute deploys at 10,000 ft (3 km). Descent rate slows to 30 ft/s (9 m/s) T+04:50:20 Landing Bag Deploy Landing Bag Deploys, dropping heat shield down 4 ft (1.2 m). T+04:50:20 Fuel Dump Remaining hydrogen peroxide fuel automatically dumped. T+04:55:30 Splashdown Capsule lands in water about 500 mi (800 km) downrange from launch site. T+04:55:30 Rescue Aids Deploy Rescue aid package deployed. The package includes green dye marker, recovery radio beacon and whip antenna.