Mercury spacecraft, named Friendship 7, was carried to orbit by an Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle lifting off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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15 Facts About Friendship 7
2.
Friendship 7 then announced the team members for the next two Mercury missions.
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3.
Friendship 7 described the view as "a beautiful sight, looking eastward across the Atlantic".
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4.
Friendship 7 allowed the spacecraft to continue the yaw maneuver until it was facing into its flight path.
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5.
Friendship 7 said the sun set fast, but not as quickly as he had expected.
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6.
Friendship 7 looked for but failed to see the dim light phenomenon known as the zodiacal light; his eyes had insufficient time to adapt to the darkness.
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7.
Friendship 7 saw a very bright light and what appeared to be the outline of a city.
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8.
Friendship 7 tried different control modes to see which used the least fuel to maintain attitude.
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9.
Friendship 7 then switched back to the manual fly-by-wire system and flew the spacecraft in that mode for the remainder of the flight.
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10.
Friendship 7 asked to be certified as eligible for his regular flight pay.
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11.
Friendship 7 lost altitude in its reentry glide over the continental United States, and headed toward splashdown in the Atlantic.
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12.
Friendship 7 activated the auxiliary damping system, which helped to stabilize the large yaw and roll rates.
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13.
Friendship 7 toggled the switch and the green light confirmation came on.
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14.
Once Friendship 7 was on deck, Glenn intended to leave the capsule through the upper hatch, but it was too hot in the spacecraft and Glenn decided to blow the side hatch instead.
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15.
Friendship 7 told the ship's crew to stand clear and hit the hatch detonator plunger with the back of his hand.
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