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CAPCOM
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Weak but readable, Friendship Seven. All systems appear go at this time. Blood pressure reading 125 over 90. You have an HF check coming up in about 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and Canton acquisition approximately 7 minutes. Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger, Friendship Seven. Thank you very much. All systems are still go at this time. Switching to HF. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. This is Friendship Seven, broadcasting in the blind to the Mercury network. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This is Mercury Friendship Seven. Out.
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CAPCOM
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This is Canaveral Cap Com, testing the HF. GMT 15 52 05, MARK. I did not read the capsule. Cape, out.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, this Kano. GMT 15 53 02. I did (Kano) not read your transmission. Kano, out.
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John Glenn
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Hello, Canton. Hello, Canton. This is Friendship Seven. Read you loud and clear, how me? Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. This is Friendship Seven. Com Tech Canton. Fuel 90-100 [percent], oxygen 73-101 [percent].
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John Glenn
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Roger, Canton Cap Com. My report follows: Fuel 90 100 [percent], oxygen 73-100 [percent], amps 22, cabin pressure holding steady at 5.5 Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger, message follows: Control fuel 90-100 [percent], oxygen 73-100 [percent], amps 22, cabin pressure 5.5 and holding steady. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven. This is Canton Cap Com. All systems on the ground appear go. Your 150 volt-amp inverter temperature is presently 188° repeat 188° . Your clocks are in sync. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I had a big storm in sight off to the south, of course, for a little while and had lightning flashes going around on top of the clouds. I could see it very clearly. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Having no trouble at all eating, very good. In the periscope, I can see the brilliant blue horizon coming up behind me; approaching sunrise. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Have eaten one tube of food, shutting the visor. I've had no problem at all eating. Oh, the sun is coming up behind me in the periscope, a brilliant, brilliant red. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. It's blinding through the scope on clear. It's started up just as I gave you that mark; I'm going to the dark filter to watch it come on up.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I'll try to describe what I'm in here. I am in a big mass of some very small particles, that are brilliantly lit up like they're luminescent. I never saw anything like it. They round a little; they're coming by the capsule, and they look like little stars. A whole shower of them coming by.
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John Glenn
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They swirl around the capsule and go in front of the window and they're all brilliantly lighted. They probably average maybe 7 or 8 feet apart, but I can see them all down below me, also.
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John Glenn
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Negative, negative. They're very slow; they're not going away from me more than maybe 3 or 4 miles per hour. They're going at the same speed I am approximately. They're only very slightly under my speed. Over.
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John Glenn
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They do, they do have a different motion, though, from me because they swirl around the capsule and then depart back the way I am looking.
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John Glenn
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This has been going on since about 1 plus 15. Over. Just after I remarked about the sunset. I looked back up and looked out the window, and all the little swirl of particles was going by. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. This is Friendship Seven, broadcasting in the blind again on HF.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven, broadcasting in the blind. Sunrise has come up behind in the periscope. It was brilliant in the scope, a brilliant red as it approached the horizon and came up; and just as the—as I looked back up out the window, I had literally thousands of small, luminous particles swirling around the capsule and going away from me at maybe 3 to 5 miles per hour. Now that I am out in the bright sun, they seem to have disappeared. It was just as the sun was coming up. I can still see just a few of them now, even though the sun is up some 20° above the horizon.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven. This is Guaymas Com Tech, Guaymas Com Tech, transmitting on HF-UHF. Do you read? Over.
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John Glenn
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Hello, Guaymas Com Tech, Guaymas Com Tech. This is Friendship Seven. Receive your HF loud and clear. How me? Over.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven. This is Guaymas Cap Com. You're little garbled right now, but understandable. What is, what is your status? Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven on HF. My status is excellent. Everything is going according to plan. Control fuel is 90-100 [percent], oxygen is 72-101 [percent], amps 22. Over.
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CAPCOM
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… 110. Your main inverter temperatures are rising slightly, but everything is okay now. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I still have some of these very small particles coming around the capsule. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Just as the sun came up, there were some brilliantly-lighted particles that looked luminous, that were swirling around the capsule. I don't have any in sight right now; I did have a couple just a moment ago, when I made the transmission to you. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. For the record, number, the number two film that I'm putting in the camera is the number four roll.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven. Guaymas Cap Com. We have about 3 minutes yet before we acquire telemetry. I'll give you, I'll give you your retrosequence times for Areas 2 Alpha, Golf, Hotel. Area 2 Alpha is 01 36 38.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Standby. I'm not ready to copy yet; I'm changing film in the camera. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven, going back and using the number 2 roll if I can get hold of it.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven, I was making a transmission for the record here on what film I was loading. Over.
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John Glenn
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Hello, Roger, this is Friendship Seven. Loud and clear with you also. Are we still go from Control Center? Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. Friendship Seven. All systems are go in the capsule. I still have some of these little particles coming around the capsule occasionally here. I can see them against the dark sky even on the day side. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, Guaymas. If you have a chance, could you give us a blood pressure check? Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. Friendship Seven. Will give blood pressure check. I still have some of these particles that I cannot identify coming around the capsule occasionally. Over.
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John Glenn
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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. Just at sunrise there were literally thousands of them. It looked just like a myriad of stars. Over.
Spoken on Feb. 20, 1962, 4:03 p.m. UTC (62 years, 8 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet
