In 1957, the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik I initiated the space race between the USSR and the US. Amid this competitive atmosphere, on February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth aboard the Friendship 7 Space Capsule. Despite facing challenges such as an autopilot malfunction and concerns about the heat shield's integrity during reentry, Glenn returned safely, captivating America.
The provided transcript captures the communication between John Glenn and ground command, organized in table form. Column 1 indicates the amount of time elapsed in hours, minutes, and seconds from the time of lift-off. Column 2 indicates the length of each communication (in seconds). Column 3 identifies who is speaking, as follows: CC = Capsule Communicator, P = Pilot (John Glenn), CT = Communications Technician. And the last column is the verbal communication. Within the text, a series of dashes (---) indicate that the taped communication could not be understood.
Communication from John Glenn’s Friendship 7 Space Capsule,
February 20, 1962
| 04 36 56 | 0.4 | CC | Roger. |
| 04 37 00 | 9.6 | P | There is quite a bit of cloud cover down in this area. I can, ah, right on track, I can only see certain areas. I can see quite a bit on up to the north, however. |
| 04 37 18 | 2.4 | P | This is Friendship 7, going to manual control. | |
| 04 37 21 | 1.3 | CC | Ah, Roger, Friendship 7. | |
| 04 37 23 | 2.7 | P | This is banging in and out here; I’ll just control it manually. | |
| 04 37 25 | 0.4 | CC | Roger. | |
| 04 37 48 | 3.1 | CC | Friendship 7, Guaymas Cap Com, reading you loud and clear. | |
| 04 37 51 | 2.1 | P | Roger, Guaymas, read you loud and clear also. | |
| TEXAS | ||||
| 04 38 06 | 4.0 | CT | Friendship 7, Friendship 7, this is Texas Com Tech. Do you read? Over. | |
| 04 38 10 | 1.3 | P | Roger, Texas, go ahead. | |
| 04 38 13 | 3.9 | CT | Ah, Roger. Reading you 5 square. Standby for Texas Cap Com. | |
| 04 38 16 | 0.4 | P | Roger. | |
| 04 38 25 | 23.8 | CC | This is Texas Cap Com, Friendship 7. We are recommending that you leave the retropackage on through the entire reentry. This means that you will have to override the 05g switch which is expected to occur at 04 43 03. This also means that you will have to manually retract the scope. Do you read? | |
| 04 38 49 | 4.0 | P | This is Friendship 7. What is the reason for this? Do you have any reason? Over. | |
| 04 38 53 | 3.6 | CC | Not at this time; this is the judgment of Cape Flight. | |
| 04 38 58 | 2.6 | P | Ah, Roger. Say again your instructions please. Over. | |
| 04 39 01 | 22.1 | CC | We are recommending that the retropackage not, I say again, not be jettisoned. This means that you will have to override the 05g switch which is expected to occur at 04 43 53. This is approximately 4-1/2 minutes from now. This also means that you will have to retract the scope manually. Do you understand? | |
| 04 39 25 | 9.7 | P | Ah, Roger, understand. I will have to make a manual 05g entry when it occurs, and bring the scope in, ah, manually. Is that affirm? | |
| 04 39 35 | 2.5 | CC | That is affirmative, Friendship 7. | |
| 04 39 39 | 0.6 | P | Ah, Roger. | |
| 04 39 42 | 3.6 | P | This is Friendship 7, going to reentry attitude, then, in that case. | |
| 04 40 00 | 3.8 | CC | Friendship 7, Cape flight will give you the reasons for this action when you are in view. | |
| 04 40 06 | 2.6 | P | Ah, Roger. Ah, Roger. Friendship 7. | |
| 04 40 09 | 2.5 | CC | Everything down here on the ground looks okay. | |
| 04 40 12 | 1.5 | P | Ah, Roger. This is Friendship 7
. |
|
| 04 40 14 | 1.4 | CC | Confirm your attitudes. | |
| 04 40 16 | 0.4 | P | Roger. | |
| CANAVERAL | |||
| 04 40 23 | 1.7 | CC | Ah, Friendship 7, this is Cape. Over. |
| 04 40 25 | 1.5 | P | Go ahead, Cape. Friend 7. |
| 04 40 27 | 4.9 | CC | Ah, recommend you go to reentry attitude and retract the scope manually at this time. |
| 04 40 32 | 1.9 | P | Ah, Roger, retracting scope manually. |
| 04 40 36 | 14.6 | CC | While you’re doing that, we are not sure whether or not your landing bag has deployed. We feel it is possible to reenter with the retropackage on. Ah, we see no difficulty at this time in that type of reentry. Over. |
| 04 40 51 | 1.6 | P | Ah, Roger, understand. |
| 04 41 10 | 1.4 | CC | Seven, this is Cape. Over. |
| 04 41 12 | 1.5 | P | Go ahead, Cape. Friendship 7. |
| 04 41 15 | 5.4 | CC | Estimating 05g at 04 44. |
| 04 41 21 | 0.6 | P | Ah, Roger. |
| 04 41 23 | 3.0 | CC | You override 05g at that time. |
| 04 41 31 | 2.7 | P | Ah, Roger. Friendship 7. |
| 04 41 33 | 13.2 | P | This is Friendship 7. I’m on straight manual control at present time. This was, ah, still kicking in and out of orientation mode, mainly in yaw, ah, following retrofire, so I am on straight manual now. I’ll back it up --- |
| 04 41 45 | 0.8 | CC | --- on reentry. |
| 04 41 47 | 0.9 | P | Say again. |
| 04 41 50 | 0.6 | CC | Standby. |
| 04 41 53 | 6.2 | P | This is Friendship 7. Ah, going to fly-by-wire. I’m down to about 15 percent on manual. |
| 04 42 00 | 8.9 | CC | Ah, Roger. You’re going to use fly-by-wire for reentry and we recommend that you do the best you can to keep a zero angle during reentry. Over. |
| 04 42 09 | 1.2 | P | Ah, Roger. Friendship 7. |
| 04 42 13 | 3.4 | P | This is Friendship 7. I’m on fly-by-wire, back-it up with manual. Over. |
| 04 42 18 | 1.1 | CC | Roger, understand. |