Happy Presidents Day!

February Fun Facts

Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day. Or, the day that we all get off from work and school! Well, most of us…not all.



But alas that is not the only thing to be celebrated today. Did you know that today is also the day John Glenn orbited the earth in 1962? On February 20, 1962, Glenn piloted the Mercury-Atlas 6 "Friendship 7" spacecraft on the first manned orbital mission of the United States. Launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, he completed a successful three-orbit mission around the earth, reaching a maximum altitude (apogee) of approximately 162 statute miles and an orbital velocity of approximately 17,500 miles per hour.

Glenn's "Friendship 7" Mercury spacecraft landed approximately 800 miles southeast of KSC in the vicinity of Grand Turk Island. Mission duration from launch to impact was 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds.

I don’t know about you, but I happen to think that’s kind of cool. I’ve always sort of wanted to fly into space and see if there were Martians out there…And for some reason that makes me think of Green Lantern.

For more information on Presidents Day go here.


For more information on John Glenn go here.