John Glenn Fever Gripping Cape Canaveral _ Again

Published February 17, 2012 4:09PM (EST)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — John Glenn fever has taken hold of Cape Canaveral once again.

Three days before the 50th anniversary of his historic flight, the first American to orbit the Earth addressed employees at Kennedy Space Center on Friday. The NASA auditorium was packed with hundreds of workers.

Glenn — who's 90 — recalled how he and his six fellow Mercury astronauts traveled to Cape Canaveral to watch a missile blast off. It was a night launch, and the rocket blew apart over their heads. Improvements were made, and Glenn said he had confidence in his Mercury-Atlas rocket. Otherwise he wouldn't have climbed aboard.

Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule circled Earth three times on Feb. 20, 1962.


By Salon Staff

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