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Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. ingresses the Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) “Friendship 7” spacecraft during the last part of the countdown on February 20, 1962. At 9:47 a.m. (EST), the Atlas launch vehicle lifted the spacecraft into orbit for a three-orbit mission lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds. Glenn and his spacecraft were recovered by the destroyer U.S.S. NOA just 21 minutes after landing in the Atlantic Ocean near Grand Turk Island, to successfully complete the nation's first manned orbital flight.