Space History Photos: Astronaut John Glenn in a State of Weightlessness During Friendship

News
By published
space history, nasa, mercury, glenn
During the 1962 Friendship 7 mission, John Glenn experiences weightlessness. (Image credit: NASA/Chris Cohen)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, Astronaut John Glenn photographed in space by an automatic sequence motion picture camera during his flight on "Friendship 7."

Glenn was in a state of weightlessness traveling at 17,500 mph as these pictures were taken.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

NASA Archives
NASA Archives
U.S. Space Agency

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes,  satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. It's astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, of visit: nasa.gov. 

More about spaceflight

Pine Barrens ablaze as seen from orbit | Space photo of the day for April 28, 2025

SpaceX launches 250th Starlink satellite mission, lands rocket at sea (video, photos)

Amateur astronomer captures detailed photos of Croc's Eye and Whirlpool galaxies from backyard observatory
See more latest
Most Popular
The iconic Whirlpool galaxy Messier 51 is pictured along with the smaller galaxy NGC 5195 at the top of the image.
Amateur astronomer captures detailed photos of Croc's Eye and Whirlpool galaxies from backyard observatory
a man in a suit suits at a desk in front of a microphone
Watch Trump's pick for NASA chief Jared Isaacman return to Capitol Hill for Senate vote on April 30
a large, light orange cylindrical tank is moved outside a factory, where a standing body of water catches its reflection
Tank for 1st Artemis touchdown on the moon | Space photo of the day for April 29, 2025
A portion of a sci-fi movie poster depicting an alien creature on a containment cell
We got a trio of new 'Alien: Earth' trailers last week, and one hints at alien 'monsters' that aren't the xenomorphs (video)
a missile launches from a truck above a plume of fire under a blue sky
US Army launches hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
A simulated image of two black holes colliding.
AI designs 50 gravitational wave detectors that could outperform human-made ones
a blue planet near a red star, with thousands of stars seen in the background around them
The pursuit of truths: A letter on the boy who cried aliens (op-ed)
The crescent moon can be seen close to Jupiter in the night sky on April 30.
See a wafer-thin crescent moon leapfrog Jupiter this week
Some new survey areas in Cambodia that have been outlined for future work and/or full landmine clearance, thanks to declassified imagery from U.S. spy satellites.
40-year-old spy satellite photos are helping find forgotten land mines in Cambodia
A SpaceX Falcon 9 roket launches 23 Starlink satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 28, 2025.
Brand-new Falcon 9 rocket sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on SpaceX's 2nd launch of the day (video)