John H. Glenn, one of the Mercury Seven Astronauts , runs through a training exercise in the Mercury Procedures Trainer at the Space Task Group, Langley Field, Virginia. This Link-type spacecraft simulator allowed the astronaut the practice of both normal and emergency modes of systems operations. #

This device is formally known as the MASTIF or Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility and is located in the Altitude Wind Tunnel. It was built at the Lewis Research Center, now John H. Glenn Research Center, and designed to train astronauts to regain control of a tumbling spacecraft. #

The seven original Mercury astronauts participate in U.S. Air Force survival school at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada. Picture from left to right are L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, John H. Glenn, Jr., Alan Shepard, Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Donald K. Slayton. Portions of their clothing have been fashioned from parachute material, and all have grown beards from their time in the wilderness. The purpose of this training was to prepare astronauts in the event of an emergency or faulty landing in a remote area. #

A three-year-old chimpanzee named Ham sits in the biopack couch for the MR-2 suborbital test flight. On January 31, 1961, a Mercury-Redstone launch from Cape Canaveral carried the chimpanzee "Ham" over 640 kilometers down range in an arching trajectory that reached a peak of 254 kilometers above the Earth. The mission was successful and Ham performed his lever-pulling task well in response to the flashing light. NASA used chimpanzees and other primates to test the Mercury Capsule before launching the first American astronaut Alan Shepard in May 1961. #

An Atlas missile carrying a one-and-a-half-pound squirrel monkey named Goliath in its nose cone veers off course after launch and showers burning wreckage back on Cape Canaveral, November 10, 1961. #

The Atlas missile carrying a tiny monkey named Goliath in its nose cone, is shown as it exploded shortly after launch in Cape Canaveral, November 10, 1961. The nose cone is at lower right. #

Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. looks into a Celestial Training Device (concentric globes) during training in the Aeromedical Laboratory at Cape Canaveral, Florida in February of 1962. #

Astronaut John Glenn leaves Hanger S and walks to transfer van for ride to launch pad on February 20, 1962 in Cape Canaveral. Glenn carries portable air conditioner attached to his suit. The air conditioner is detached before Glenn climbs into the Mercury capsule. #

Astronaut John Glenn climbs into his Friendship 7 space capsule atop an Atlas rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 20, 1962, ready for the flight which made him the first American to orbit the earth. #

The Atlas rocket and the newly-named Mercury spacecraft called Friendship 7 blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 20, 1962, carrying Col. John Glenn, Jr., as the first American to orbit the earth. #

Carrying Astronaut John Glenn, the Mercury spacecraft named Friendship 7, is launched into orbit by an Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle lifting off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 20, 1962. #

U.S. President John F. Kennedy, right, and Democratic congressional leaders watch the Atlas rocket and the newly-manned Mercury spacecraft blast off at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a television set in the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, on February 20, 1962. From left are, Rep. Hale Boggs, Louisiana; House Speaker John McCormack, Massachusetts, partially hidden; Rep. Carl Albert, Oklahoma; Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Minnesota; Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Kennedy. #

Photo of the Earth taken by John Glenn with a 35-millimeter Ansco Autoset camera he had purchased just before liftoff, seen during Mercury Atlas 6 (Friendship 7) orbital flight on February 20, 1962. #

The Friendship 7 capsule, containing astronaut John Glenn, is recovered from the Atlantic by the destroyer U.S.S. Noa after a successful space flight, February 20, 1962. The yellow coloring in the water is dye to make the capsule more visible to the recovery crew. #

(Left) Col. John Glenn is helped from his Friendship 7 capsule by crewmen from the USS Noa in these February 20, 1962 Polaroid photos taken by then Navy fireman David Gillespie of Cleveland. (Right) Col. John Glenn is assisted by an unidentified sailor aboard the USS Noa following his historic orbital flight in this February 20, 1962 photo. The Noa made the recovery after the historic flight when the capsule landed 44 miles from the primary recovery vessel. #

John Glenn, center, is greeted by fellow astronauts following his orbital flight, February 23, 1962 on Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos Islands. From left to right is: Scott Carpenter, Donald Slayton, Glenn, Virgil Grissom, Alan Shepard and Walter Schirra. The seventh member of the astronaut team, Leroy Cooper, was not available. #

President John F. Kennedy, astronaut John Glenn and others take part in welcome ceremonies at Cape Canaveral in honor of Glenn's successful orbital mission February 23, 1962 #