Friendship 7 was the first American crewed spacecraft to splash down after orbiting Earth.
The Mercury spacecraft carried astronaut John Glenn on February 20, 1962. During the mission, Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in about four hours and 56 minutes before landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Friendship 7 was launched by an Atlas LV-3B rocket from Cape Canaveral. The flight demonstrated that a human could work safely in orbit and that the spacecraft could survive atmospheric reentry and ocean recovery.
The mission’s name was chosen by Glenn and was painted on the capsule before launch. Alan Shepard’s earlier Freedom 7 flight had been the first American crewed spaceflight, but it was a suborbital flight rather than an orbital mission. Glenn’s capsule is now displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.