Before Artemis II, the Friendship 7 helped push the boundaries of American spaceflight

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published April 8, 2026 at 9:57 AM MDT

This week, NASA’s Artemis II mission made history by sending four astronauts farther from Earth than any other humans have been before. But moments like this echo the earliest days of American spaceflight in 1962, when astronaut John Glenn orbited the planet three times in a cramped capsule called the Mercury Friendship 7.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Mike Neufeld, curator emeritus at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, about the history and modern significance of the Friendship 7.

The inside of the cockpit. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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