John Glenn (born 1921), American astronaut, learning 3D-space navigation prior to the launch of the Mercury 6 mission. Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was launched on 20th February 1962. It was the first American mission to put a human in Earth orbit, the Soviets had previously placed a cosmonaut in orbit on 12 April 1961. The mission was successful and Glenn completed three orbits in 4 hours and 55 minutes in the Friendship 7 spacecraft. Glenn went on to become the United States Senator from Ohio, a position he held from 1974 to 1999.