John Glenn (left) and Scott Carpenter (right) were the primary and alternate pilots for the United States' first orbital flight. I can only imagine what Carpenter was thinking when he got the word NASA was concerned that Glenn's heat shield wouldn't stay on during re-entry and if that happened, his friend burn up on re-entry.
He later admitted that he was a little worried re-entering the atmosphere but also knew that if he did lost the heat shield, it would all be over quickly. After his successful re-entry and recovery by the USS Noa, Glenn was cool, calm, and collected, at least on the outside. Rocking those classic Chuck Taylor's, he was certainly cool!
After his safe return, Glenn was awarded a medal by JFK, address a joint session of congress following a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, and received a ticker tape parade in New York City. Of all his accolades, it seemed the one he found most unbelieveable was when his hometown named the college gym in his honor.
More three more Mercury flights followed Glenn's but by this time NASA was already looking to the future and Project Gemini which would do even more to get astronauts ready for the real prize - the Apollo mission that hopefully take humans from earth to the moon and safely back again.
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