Phase 5: Reentry

John Glenn

Roger, retro sequence is green.

CAPCOM

You have a green. You look good on attitude.

John Glenn

Retro attitude is green.

CAPCOM

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, fire.

John Glenn

Roger, retros are firing.

CAPCOM

Sure, they be.

John Glenn

Are they ever. It feels like I'm going back toward Hawaii.

CAPCOM

Don't do that, you want to go to the East Coast.

John Glenn

Roger. Fire retro light is green.

CAPCOM

All three here.

John Glenn

Roger, retros have stopped. A hundred. …

CAPCOM

Keep your retro pack on until you pass Texas.

John Glenn

That's affirmative.

CAPCOM

Pretty good looking flight from what all we've seen.

John Glenn

Roger, everything went pretty good except for all this ASCS problem.

CAPCOM

It looked like your attitude held pretty well. Did you have to back it up at all?

John Glenn

Oh, yes, quite a bit. Yeah, I had a lot of trouble with it.

CAPCOM

Good enough for Government work from down here.

John Glenn

Yes, sir, it looks good, Wally. We'll see you back East.

John Glenn

Fire Retro is green.

John Glenn

Jettison retro is red. I'm holding onto it.

John Glenn

I'll tell you, there is no doubt about it when the retros fire.

CAPCOM

Gathered that from your comments.

John Glenn

Everything is looking good, I'll give you a fast readout here. Fuel is 29-27 [percent]. The cabin pressure holding 5.5, cabin air is 88 [degrees], relative humidity is 33 [percent]; coolant quantity, 58 [percent], temperature is 71 [degrees], suit temperature is 71 [degrees], suit pressure is 5.8, steam temperature is 53 [degrees] in the suit, oxygen is, primary 60 [percent], 89 [percent] on secondary.

CAPCOM

Looks pretty good on this end. How did the attitude seem to hold? Did you have any diversions in yaw at all?

John Glenn

Negative, very close. I backed it up and worked right along with the ASCS and it looked like it held right on the money.

CAPCOM

Roger, we didn't notice any particular disparity here.

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Spoken on Feb. 20, 1962, 7:23 p.m. UTC (62 years, 8 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

John Glenn

Roger, good. Do you have a time for going to Jettison Retro? Over.

CAPCOM

Texas will give you that message. Over.

John Glenn

This is Friendship Seven, cutting yaw on automatic and I'll control that manually; it keeps banging in and out of orientation.

CAPCOM

Roger, Friendship Seven.

John Glenn

Hello, Texas. Friendship Seven. Over.

CAPCOM

Friendship Seven, Cal Cap Com. Do you read?

CAPCOM

Consideration about leaving retropack on, they will inform you over Texas.

John Glenn

Roger, over the Coast.

CAPCOM

Roger, clear blue here.