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00042_Field_Art-WE2.TXT.txt
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1996-08-21
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First American to Orbit Earth
The first manned orbit around the
world by the Russian cosmonaut Yuri
Gagarin on April 12, 1961 launched
the race between the U.S. and the
U.S.S.R. for the manned conquest of
space. The first American to success-
fully achieve orbit was John Glenn,
who circled the globe three times on
February 20, 1962 in his ΓÇ£Friendship
7ΓÇ¥ Mercury capsule.
But the Soviet Union had taken a
strong lead, and retained it for the
immediate years to come. Valentina
Tereshkova was the first woman to
enter space in June of 1963. Two
years later, Alexei Leonov was the
first man to open the hatch while in
orbit and float freely in space. An
American spacewalk followed all but
3 months later.
John Glenn was born in 1921 and
flew war missions in World War II
and the Korean War. He retired from
the Marine Corps and the astronaut
program as a full colonel, and turned
instead to a new career in politics in
Ohio. From 1975, he served as a U.S.
Senator.