When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. On Feb. 20, 1962, NASA astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover aerospace, astronomy & hosted The Cosmic Controversy Podcast. Sixty years hence, it’s hard to appreciate just how much of ...

John Glenn’s Friendship 7 flight took less than five hours. But the lessons NASA learned that day continue to propel the agency forward today. The United States was falling behind in the space race in ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. On March 31, 1962, NASA approved the design of the new Gemini spacecraft. [‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com]This ...

This historic photograph was captured in full color by John Glenn, the first human being to take photographs from space, showing the Planet Earth’s brilliant blue and white horizon at the lower half ...

Editor's note: It's been 60 years since John Glenn's mission aboard the Friendship 7 on Feb. 20, 1962. We're republishing this story on its impact, originally published in 2012, in honor of the ...