In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, an overall view of astronaut John Glenn, Jr., as he enters into the spacecraft Friendship 7 on Feb. 20, 1962, prior to MA-6 launch operations at Launch Complex 14.
Astronaut Glenn is entering his spacecraft to begin the first American manned Earth orbital mission.
Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).