John Glenn onboard Friendship 7, 1962. Onboard footage of astronaut John Glenn in the Friendship 7 spacecraft, on the Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) mission, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 20 february 1962. This was the third human spaceflight for the U.S., and Glenn was the first American to go into Earth orbit. He performed three orbits of the Earth and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. He went on to become the United States Senator for Ohio.