On this day in 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr., the oldest of seven astronauts selected by NASA for Project Mercury spaceflight training (and later a U.S. senator), became on this day in 1962 the first American to orbit Earth, doing so three times. The Mercury program was the first American human spaceflight program, and it aimed to put a man in orbit around the Earth.
Gus Grissom died in the Appolo 1 explosion. He was the second US astronaut to go into space after Alan Shepard being the first. John Glenn was the first American to orbit.
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Gus Grissom died in the Appolo 1 explosion. He was the second US astronaut to go into space after Alan Shepard being the first. John Glenn was the first American to orbit.