We Orbited the Earth for the First Time: The Original Newsreel

When the Space Shuttle Discovery embarks on its final voyage this week, much of the country may hardly notice.

Things looked a little different forty-nine years ago this week, as thousands watched an American orbit the Earth for the first time, nine months after the Russians sent the first human into space.

Above is a newsreel from February 22, 1962, two days after John Glenn’s short and historic voyage. And here’s how the Times covered it:

The whole continent watched on television as Colonel Glenn’s capsule was launched. The world listened by radio. And almost 100,000 persons had a direct view from here and the beaches around as the Atlas rocket booster bore the Project Mercury capsule upward with a thrust of 360,000 pounds.

The Friendship 7 was lofted into a trajectory that varied between a low point, or perigee, of about ninety-nine miles, and a high point, or apogee, of 162 miles.

It traveled at a speed of about 17,530 miles an hour and went from day to night three times before whirling east across the Pacific on the final leg of the flight.

Some 300 miles west of the California coast, three retro, or braking rockets slowed the capsule enough to bring it out of orbit.

The elated astronaut on board radioed, “Boy, that was a real fireball of a ride!” as the capsule rammed back into the atmosphere.

Besides generating heat that gave him a spectacular moment of fireworks outside his capsule window, the re-entry ended Colonel Glenn’s long hours of weightlessness and shoved him forcefully back against his contoured couch.

At 2:43 P. M., a sixty-three foot red-and-white parachute deposited the Friendship 7 on gentle Caribbean waters.

After the capsule had been picked up by the Noa and safely placed on her deck, Colonel Glenn emerged triumphant in his gleaming silver space suit.

Also see NASA’s birthday and Russia’s booyah to Obama