<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/john-glenn-space-pioneer-dead/7b12470c-adaa-4e93-8787-4d7860cf5522" rel="" target="" title="John Glenn"><span>John Glenn</span></a><span> became the first American to orbit the Earth on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="February 20, 1962"><span>February 20, 1962</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/john-glenn-space-pioneer-dead/7b12470c-adaa-4e93-8787-4d7860cf5522" rel="" target="" title="NASA astronaut orbited the planet three times"><span>NASA astronaut orbited the planet three times</span></a><span> in the Friendship 7, three months after a similar mission was completed by a chimpanzee named Enos.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During his short flight, Glenn was astounded by an unexpected phenomenon.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-october-9-what-happened-on-this-day/33813853-e873-471b-ba3e-a56ee7c71227"><strong><span>Michelle's car became 80 times more valuable after massive crash</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He described his capsule going through a mass of "fireflies".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I am in a big mass of some very small particles, they're brilliantly lit up like they're luminescent," he told ground control.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A whole shower of them coming by. They swirl around the capsule and go in front of the window and they're all brilliantly lighted".</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-20-what-happened-on-this-day-john-glenn-fireflies/171778c1-c810-40dd-b939-12761dbee841" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite his description of them as "fireflies", the dazzling sight was actually more banal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>NASA concluded the "fireflies" were merely ice crystals venting from elsewhere on the spacecraft, flying past his window.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hairiest part of Glenn's voyage was his </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/mourners-pay-tribute-to-american-space-legend-john-glenn/b3b203b8-a628-434e-892e-b5fd64bb0adb" rel="" target="" title="re-entry to Earth"><span>re-entry to Earth</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-july-20-what-happened-on-this-day/9db20666-d6df-4a1f-ad15-4ac0ba35dbe6" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Manager's specific remark about baseball star came eerily true six years later</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Because of issues with the capsule's heat shield, Glenn had a much warmer re-entry than planned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But despite fears he would burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, he survived in one piece.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In anticipation of a delayed rescue after his ocean splashdown, the Friendship 7 was equipped with a life raft, a desalination kit, survival rations, matches and shark repellent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Glenn did not have to wait long for rescue, landing just 10km away from a US Navy destroyer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They would be alongside the Friendship 7 just 17 minutes later.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The mission was reflective of how far the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="USA"><span>USA</span></a><span> was </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-19-what-happened-on-this-day/358c1e71-80b5-46da-a7a5-f5a221b71dbb#6" rel="" target="" title="behind the Soviet Union in the space race at that point"><span>behind the Soviet Union in the space race at that point</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Not only had </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russian-cosmonaut-has-a-breakdown-on-his-way-to-the-iss/36e0b251-9a2b-419a-8a43-8b7c16ec2fc9" rel="" target="" title="cosmonaut"><span>cosmonaut</span></a><span> Gherman Titov already orbited the Earth seven months earlier, he had done so 17 times over 25 hours.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-july-19-what-happened-on-this-day/ab6584da-fbc8-4641-8c10-8ec5b6591270"><strong><span>US pilot flies to space in a plane</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Titov had a much hairier re-entry than Glenn.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Because a module failed to detach, Titov had to eject himself from the capsule as it was hurtling to Earth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Titov parachuted to the ground with a bloody nose after banging his helmet trying to eject.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Glenn would be regarded as a national hero, and would be elected to the US Senate in 1974.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He returned to space on a nine-day mission in 1998.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/yuri-gagarin-why-the-russians-wont-give-a-straight-answer-to-how-the-first-man-in-space-died/5ee254e5-d70d-4476-a22e-60ddda200056" rel="" target="" title="Why the Russians still won't say how the first man in space died"><strong><span>Why the Russians still won't say how the first man in space died</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div 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