“The Golden Age of Space Travel”

Cap Com: Status check. Pressurization?

Cap Com: Go.

Cap Com: Locks?

Cap Com: I have a blinking on level 1.

Cap Com: You are go.

Cap Com: Order systems?

Cap Com: Go.

Cap Com: Range operations?

Cap Com: All clear to lanch.

Cap Com: Mercury capsule?

Glenn: Go.

Cap Com: All preset panel lights are correct, the ready light is on, eject from the umbilical.

Cap Com: Oil evacuate.

Cap Com: Mercury umbilical clear.

Cap Com: All recorders to fast, T-minus 18 seconds and counting, engines start.

Cap Com: Good Lord ride all the way.

Cap Com: God Speed John Glenn.

————–ORBIT

Glenn: Ah, roger. Friendship 7. All system are go in the capsule.

Glenn: Ah, Roger this is Friendship 7. I’m controlling fly by wire present time. I have no left yaw low thrust. Over.

Glenn: Ah, roger. Friendship 7. All system are go in the capsule.

Glenn: Affirmative, I am go for the next orbit.

Cap-Com: MCC confirms they are go at the present time for third orbit.

————–OBSERVATIONS

Glenn: I still have some of these particles that I cannot identify coming around the capsule occasionally. Over.

Cap Com: How big are these particles? Over.

Glenn: Very small, I would indicate they are on the order of 16th of an inch or smaller. They drift by the window and I can see them against the dark sky. There were literally thousands of them. It looked just like a myriad of stars.

————–REENTRY

Cap Com: We feel it is possible to reenter with the retropackage on. Ah, we see no difficulty at this time in that type of reentry. Over.

Cap Com: 5-4-3-2-1-fire.

Glenn: My condition is good, but that was a real fireball, boy. I had great chunks of that retropack breaking off all the way through.

Glenn: Ah, roger. Friendship 7. All system are go in the capsule.

————–TOUCHDOWN