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| Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7) cover from "SpaceCraft," postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base on February 20, 1962, the launch day of the first U.S. manned orbital flight. |
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) marked the first attempt by the US to put an astronaut into orbit, part of Project Mercury. Launched on February 20, 1962, it completed three Earth orbits under the command of astronaut John Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the planet. The spacecraft, named "Friendship 7," was launched by an Atlas LV-3B rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. After 4 hours and 56 minutes in flight, the capsule re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, and was recovered by the USS NOA (DD-841). Glenn was then transferred by helicopter from the USS Noa to the USS Randolph and flown to Grand Turk for debriefing and a medical check-up, while the capsule was later delivered to Grand Turk by ship.
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| Photo: John Glenn selected as pilot for the first US orbital mission on November 29, 1961. Scott Carpenter was the backup pilot. |
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| Photo: The scene at the MA-6 launch pad in the early hours of February 20, 1962. |
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| Photo: John Glenn suited up in his space suit, preparing for the first American orbital flight in space. |
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| A cover featuring a Swanson rubber-stamped cachet, signed by Wernher von Braun, John Glenn, and Hermann Oberth, postmarked at 10 AM to closely coincide with the launch time of 9:47 AM. |
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| Photo: MA-6 blasts from the launch pad on February 20, 1962, carrying the Mercury capsule with John Glenn inside. |
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| MA-6 cover from "SpaceCraft," postmarked at Port Canaveral on February 20, 1962, the launch day of the MA-6 mission, and signed by John Glenn. During the early stages of the U.S. space program, only two postmarks were used for space covers: "Patrick Air Force Base Florida" and "Port Canaveral." Most of the early "SpaceCraft" covers were canceled with the "Patrick Air Force Base" postmark, while a limited number were canceled at the Port Canaveral post office. |
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| Photo: Photographers at Cocoa Beach, Florida, a popular place to watch a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. The launch date was first announced as January 16, 1962, then postponed to January 23 because of problems with the Atlas rocket fuel tanks. After multiple postpones, February 20, 1962 was chosen as the favorable day to attempt a launch. |
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| A cover postmarked at Cocoa Beach on February 20, 1962, marking the launch day of the MA-6 mission. |
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| Photo: Mercury Control Center at Cape Canaveral. |
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| Photo: Alan Shepard (right), the Mercury Control capsule communicator (CAPCOM) with John Glenn. |
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| Photo: The orbital space flight path of John Glenn on February 20, 1962. |
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| Photo: John Glenn closes his eyes as his spacecraft slows down with the activation of the retrorockets during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. This photo was captured by an onboard camera. |
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| The "Friendship 7" spacecraft was released off the California coast, tracked by Point Arguello, California, part of the Pacific Missile Range, to help coordinate its re-entry and splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| Photo: Crewmen on USS NOA holding a banner to welcome John Glenn aboard. |
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| USS NOA recovery ship cover postmarked on February 20, 1962. Though the stamp used is not a "Project Mercury" stamp, a study by Dr. Ross J. Smith suggests the postmark might have been backdated. |
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| Photo: Recovery of John Glenn and his capsule by USS NOA. |
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| An aerogram addressed to "Mrs. Trudy Woods," postmarked aboard USS NOA on February 20, 1962, and signed by John Glenn. The postmark features a rare "PM" time slug. |
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| Photo: John Glenn aboard USS NOA, February 20, 1962. |
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| A Captain's Cover from the USS Randolph, postmarked on February 20, 1962. This cover features a glued cachet of the USS Randolph CVS-15 Space Capsule Recovery Ship, signed by John Glenn and the Commanding Officer, Captain Max Berns. - RegencyStamps |
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| Photo: John Glenn aboard USS Randolph. |
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| A recovery ship cover from the USS Randolph, featuring a printed Navy Department cachet, postmarked on February 20, 1962. |
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| A cover featuring a USS Randolph postmark with an unusual "AM" time slug, canceled on February 20, 1962. |
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| A cover postmarked at Grand Turk Island on February 20, 1962, signed by Joe Frasketi, the producer and servicer of this cover. |
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| Photo: John Glenn greeted by fellow astronauts at Grand Turk Island on February 22, 1962. |
The Post Office issued the "Project Mercury" stamp only after John Glenn safely returned from his orbital flight. It was created in total secrecy in case the mission did not succeed.
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| Photo: A post office staff member released the sale of the "Project Mercury" stamp at 3:30 PM on February 20, 1962, following the successful splashdown of Glenn's Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7. |
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| A block of four USA 4¢ Project Mercury stamps with the selvage signed by the stamp designer, Charles R. Chickering. |
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| A block of four USA 4¢ Project Mercury stamps with the selvage signed by by John Glenn. |
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| A block of four USA 4¢ Project Mercury stamps signed by Wernher von Braun. - RegencyStamps |
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| A cover from the USS NOA recovery ship, featuring a backdated postmark of February 20, 1962, applied on a Project Mercury stamp and signed by John Glenn.
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| A cover from the USS Randolph recovery ship, featuring a backdated postmark of February 20, 1962, applied on a Project Mercury stamp. |
Only the cover with the "Cape Canaveral" postmark bears "First Day of Issue" in its cancellation. However, when this stamp was issued, there was no post office named "Cape Canaveral"; the term referred to the geographical location of the launch site. The local post offices were known as "Port Canaveral" from 1954 to 1962, before being renamed "Cape Canaveral".
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| A simple cover featuring a Project Mercury stamp, postmarked at Cape Canaveral on February 20, 1962, at 3:30 PM (first day of issue). This cover is signed by both John Glenn and Wernher von Braun. |
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| A MA-6 cover from "SpaceCraft," featuring a Project Mercury stamp postmarked at Cape Canaveral on February 20, 1962, at 3:30 PM (first day of issue), signed by John Glenn. This time marks when the stamp was officially released for sale. |
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| A stunning hand-painted cachet by artist Chris Henderson depicts John Glenn inside the spacecraft during the Project Mercury mission. |
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| Photo: Astronaut Alan Shepard (on the right) rests his hand on the space capsule that was used for John Glenn's three orbits around the Earth. This capsule was returned to the Cape Canaveral missile test center, the original launch site. |
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| USS NOA recovery ship's cover postmarked on return to port, February 23, 1962. |
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| Photo: President Kennedy visited the launch pad from which John Glenn was launched into space. |
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| Photo: John Glenn received a key to Washington, D.C., at the White House on February 26, 1962. |
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| Photo: John Glenn and his son, David, listen to the tape recording of the orbital flight. |
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| Photo: Bags of mail were delivered to John Glenn's desk during his first visit to the Space Task Group headquarters on March 5, 1962. |
(Reference from
Mercury-Atlas 6)
