Official Record the First United States Manned Orbital Flight

Commemorating John Glenn’s historic spaceflight.

On February 20, 1962, Colonel John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, successfully circling the globe three times in the Friendship 7 capsule and restoring national pride during a pivotal moment of the Space Race. This large Cosmopolitan World Map, created by Rand McNally, was overprinted with a variety of information to celebrate the first U.S. manned orbital flight. The ‘official record’ of the event was sold as a souvenir at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.

Glenn’s three orbits are labeled, along with the locations of various command stations (the circles denote radar ranges) and their respective facilities. Other relevant information, profiles of Alan Sheppard and Gus Grissom, and a few images (including a replica of the instrument panel and cutaway of the cramped capsule) are also included, making for a distinct visualization of the globe as its inhabitants began to first explore the stars.