February 20, 2020: Fifty-eight (58) years ago today—on February 20, 1962—John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. Glenn orbited the earth three times in his Mercury capsule known as Friendship 7. The entire flight lasted just under five hours.[1]
That launch was a significant moment in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Many Americans were concerned because the Soviets appeared to be ahead in the space race. They had launched the world’s first orbiting spacecraft (Sputnik) in 1957.[1] NASA—the U.S. space agency—wasn’t even created until a year after Sputnik.[2]
Then, in April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the earth.[2] It took ten months before the United States could match that feat with Glenn’s journey around the globe.
In retrospect, it remains stunning to realize that the U.S. was able to successfully land two men on the moon less than eight years after Glenn’s historic flight into space.
In One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon, Charles Fishman recounts just how all-encompassing an effort was required to put men on the moon. And, he shows the tremendous impact that effort had in creating today’s digital era.[3]
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