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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Coming across the Gulf of Lower California at present time in the scope.
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CAPCOM
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John, for your information, the clocks will be set over Canaveral.
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John Glenn
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Roger, Friendship Seven. Cabin temperature is holding steady at about 90 [degrees]. I still have excess cabin water light on and my, I have the cabin water turned almost completely off at present time.
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John Glenn
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Ali right, fine, glad everything is working out. I feel real good, Wally. No problems at all.
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John Glenn
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Roger. This is Friendship Seven. Systems all operating normally. I gave my quantities again. There's no need to waste more time on those. I am pitching down to about 60° to make observation. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Just passed over El Paso in good shape. Could see town through some of the clouds, Over.
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Comm Tech
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Roger, Friendship Seven. This is Canaveral Com Tech. Copy you loud and clear, also. Standby for Cap Com please.
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John Glenn
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Hello, Cap Com. Friendship Seven. Fuel is 62-60 [percent]; oxygen is 62-95 [percent]; amps 23. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, reading you loud and clear. I'll give you the 3 Bravo Time, 03 22 26. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Roger, Seven. We recommend for the third orbit that you use gyros as you desire either normal or free so that in the event prior to retrofire on the third orbit that the scanners and ASCS do not program properly you may use your gyros in the free position for attitude reference. Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. This is Friendship Seven. I have a fair, pretty good line-up now on the gyros, I believe. The check that I made on the night side was okay but they drifted off again, apparently rather rapidly in fact. I got another check on it and they seem to have corrected back pretty good now. I did not have to cage them again. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Roger, Seven, we understand. The only problem is that you may not have enough light time prior yo retrofire.
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CAPCOM
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Also, Seven, we recommend that you allow the capsule to drift on manual control in order to conserve fuel. Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger, this is Friendship Seven. I have the Cape in sight down there. It looks real fine from up here.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven, Flor-, I can see the whole state of Florida just laid out like on a map. Beautiful.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven, checking down in Area Hotel on the weather and it looks good down that way. Looks like we'll have no problem on recovery.
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John Glenn
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In fact, I can see clear down, see all the islands clear down that whole chain from up here, … I can see way beyond them and area Hotel looks excellent for recovery.
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John Glenn
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This, this operation of ASCS has been very erratic. I have not been able to pin it down to any particular, one particular item. It went off one direction in yaw at one time; it went off the other the next time. I felt for a little while that pitch was drifting. It seemed to have a little stuck thrust in pitch at one time and I have to keep correcting that and that corrected itself and then I was off in roll just after I came off the dark side this time. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I'm letting it drift a little bit to the right here to look up north.
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John Glenn
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Roger, this is Friendship Seven. I'm around at the 180 [degree] point. I'm facing the direction I'm traveling, Gus. Do you still receive? Over.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is CYI Com Tech, CYI Com Tech. Do you read? Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Fuel is 62-54. [percent]. Oxygen is 62-94, [percent], amps 24. Over.
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John Glenn
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Negative. I don't seem to see them around here on this side. I saw a few, just a few just after I left Canaveral and turned around facing forward. They were coming toward me at that time. I was going, so I know that they were not coming from the capsule at all. I saw the particles in huge quantities at each sunrise so far. Over.
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Flight Surgeon
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This is Canary surgeon. Are you having any nausea, or have you experienced any nausea at all during the entire flight?
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Negative. I have felt perfectly normal during the whole flight. I feel fine. Over.
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SY
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The systems on the ground look fairly normal at this time. The temperatures are a little bit on the high side but there's nothing critical showing up. The latest reports show that the inverters are about 200 [degrees] and 210 [degrees]; this does not seem to be critical. They should be holding all this level. Do you understand?
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Atlantic Ship Cap, Com Tech. How do you read? Over.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Atlantic Ship Com Tech. We read you weak but broken, weak but broken.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, this is ATS Cap Com. How do you read me? Over. And what mode are you on for communications? Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I'm on HF at present time, on HF. I'll shift to UHF— is, if you're in solid contact. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, this is ATS Cap Com. Read only the last part of your transmission. Say again, please.
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John Glenn
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Atlantic Ship, This is Friendship Seven. Wish you would pass to Cape. I let the capsule drift around to the 180° position and I am having to reorient at present time. When Iain all lined with the horizon and the periscope, my attitude indications now are way off. My roll indicates 30° right; my yaw indicates 35 [degrees] right; and pitch indicates plus 40 [degrees]; I repeat plus 40 [degrees] when I am in orbit attitude. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Roger, Friendship Seven. I read you a little broken. You have discrepancies in attitudes of 30° right in roll, 35 [degrees] right in yaw and plus 40 [degrees] in pitch. Confirm, please. Over.
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John Glenn
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That is affirmative. I am realigning the capsule at present time and wilt cage and uncage the gyros before I go on the dark side. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Gyros are back on normal, going back to orbit attitude and will try ASCS. Over.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Com Tech, transmitting on HF UHF. Do you read? Over.
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John Glenn
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Hello, Zanzibar Com Tech. Zanzibar Com Tech, Friendship Seven. Receive you weak but readable. How me? Over.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Com Tech transmitting HF UHF. You're weak and garbled, weak and garbled. Do not copy. Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. Friendship Seven. I receive you rather garbled, also. My condition is good. Fuel 5, correction, fuel 64-48 [percent]; oxygen 52-92 [percent]. Over.
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CAPCOM
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(ATS) Friendship Seven, this is ATS Cap Com. I'm reading you very clear, very clear. Could you give me the reason for the errors in your attitudes, please?
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. That's a good question. I wish I knew, too. These errors have been off and on all during the flight. I have caged and recaged the gyros, caged and uncaged the gyros. I'm back in orbit attitude now but it is not, the attitude indicators are showing orbit attitude but it's not. By looking out at the horizon, I am about 20° right in roll and 20° too much on pitch down. I'm down to about probably 55° down in pitch by visual observation and about 20° right in roll. Yaw appears to be holding okay now. Over.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Com Tech transmitting on HF UHF. Please acknowledge on HF. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven recording. A lot of dirt on the windows from the retrofire and lot of stuff on here looks like, ah, we might have smashed some bugs even on the way up off the pad. Looks like blood on the outside of the window, maybe. It makes it real, very difficult to observe anything when they get around on the sun side.
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John Glenn
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Friendship Seven. The sun is going down again now. Coming off automatic in yaw, and yawing a little bit to the left to observe it.
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John Glenn
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The way the horizon looks is a very orange band. Just as the sun goes down and extends way off either side, probably 45° each side of the sun, comes up into a lighter yellow, then a very deep blue, then a very light blue, on up to the black of the sky.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Com Tech, transmitting on HF UHF. Please acknowledge on HF. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I took the capsule off of automatic in yaw only to go left to look at the sunset. It's back on automatic at present time in all three axes; I'm backing it up with manual. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Roger, Friendship Seven, understand you're in automatic control in all three axes, backing up with manual. Is this affirmative. Over.
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John Glenn
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There's quite a big storm area under me. It must extend for, I see lightning flashes, as far, way off on the horizon to the right. I also have them almost directly under me here. They show up very brilliantly here on the dark side at night. They're just like firecrackers going off. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Repeat your last transmission. Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. This is Friendship Seven. Fuel is 60-55 [percent], oxygen is 60-92 [percent], Amps are 22. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven at 3 plus 42. We should be just about over Johannesburg, I cannot see anything of southern Africa on this pass. Over.
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John Glenn
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Zanzibar Cap Com, Friendship Seven on HF. Can see long streaky clouds down below as we, going off to my right up into sort of a general weather pattern. That's 3 plus 44.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. An observation on control system operation: It appears that whenever I go off on manual, or fly-by-wire and maneuver for any lengthy period of time, that somehow we induce considerably, considerable errors into the gyro system. I come up with all kinds of attitudes. That time for instance, when I yawed around 180°, and held for a little while, and came back again, I had errors of 30° in roll, 35 [degrees] in yaw and plus 40 [degrees] in pitch.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. Several times I have felt that I had a partially stuck thruster or one that was just partly operating in pitch down and just then again I had a pitch up rate going and all at once I felt a down thrust and it pitched down on me. Again there, it repeated again that time, so I think I have a stuck pitch thruster occasionally.
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Comm Tech
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Friendship Seven, this is Indian Com Tech. I read you very weak, very weak, very garbled. Am turning over to Cap Com on UHF. Over.
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John Glenn
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Roger. Friendship Seven. Fuel is 60 45 [percent], oxygen is 60 92 [percent], amps 23. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I'm on ASCS but it is operating very erratically. I'm backing it up with manual at the present time. I'm trying to get it set up so it will be in a decent ASCS attitude for retrofire. Over.
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John Glenn
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This is Friendship Seven. I can control it manually. I'll back it up manually and take over if I need to. Over.
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CAPCOM
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Friendship Seven, this is Indian Cap Com. I have your retrosequence times. Are you prepared to copy? Over.
Spoken on Feb. 20, 1962, 5:50 p.m. UTC (62 years, 7 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet