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The sign accompanying Friendship 7. It reads

MERCURY FRIENDSHIP 7
First U.S. Manned Orbital Flight

Friendship 7 is the Mercury spacecraft in which astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth. On February 20, 1962, Glenn circled the Earth three times. The space flight lasted 4 hours and 55 minutes and provided data on how the human body functions under conditions of weightlessness.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin was the first person to travel in space. His historic flight occurred on April 12, 1961.

Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Height:	2.7 m (9 ft)
Maximum diameter:	1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight:	1,300 kg (2,900 lb)
Manufacturer:	McDonnell Aircraft Corp. for NASA
Launch vehicle:	Atlas-D

Friendship 7 is NASM catalog #A19670176000.