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48 years ago on february 20th 1962

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nasa astronaut john glenn became the

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first american to orbit the earth when

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an atlas rocket successfully carried his

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glenn's three orbits of the planet

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ushered in a new era in space travel

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paving the way for the apollo astronauts

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glenn was one of seven men chosen by

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nasa in 1959 to become the nation's

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first astronauts in its new human space

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flight program

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the other mercury seven astronauts were

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ellen b shepherd the first american in

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space

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virgil gus grissom scott carpenter wally

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shara gordon cooper and deke slayton

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all but slayton was grounded by a heart

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condition would fly a mercury mission

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slayton finally made it to space in 1975

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on the apollo soyuz test project

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glenn and carpenter are the only