On February 20, 1962, as millions of Americans waited anxiously,
astronaut John Glenn blasted off in his rocket ship, Friendship 7, and
became the first American to orbit the Earth.
Although the risks of such a mission for Friendship 7 were well known,
no one including Glenn knew the peril he was about to encounter in
space. John Glenn was one of the Mercury 7 astronauts, the early
pioneers of manned space flight. His historic flight followed years of
intensive physical training and a devotion to a career in the exciting
but risk-filled world of aviation.
Ruth Ashby's dramatic story of John Glenn's near-disastrous mission in
Friendship 7 also takes young readers through his small-town Ohio
childhood, his extraordinary experiences as a fighter pilot in two wars,
and his life as an astronaut in the prestigious and dangerous Mercury 7
program.
The book concludes with Glenn's successful career as a US senator and
his triumphant return to space in 1998 at the age of 77.