About the Friendship 7 (With John Glenn & Mercury-Atlas 6 rocket):

Throughout history, human beings have been motivated to explore the unknown. Although fairly new, space exploration has made incredible discoveries in a short period of time. When the United States began its space program, little was known about this “final frontier”. After the Soviet Union put the first human being into full orbit, the United States sought to do the same. Although Alan Shepard had completed a suborbital run in 1961, NASA planned to make John Glenn Jr. the first American to complete the same feat the Soviets had achieved with Yuri Gagarin in April 1961.

Glenn would embark on his mission via the Mercury program. He would be piloting a capsule known as Friendship 7, which would be launched using the Mercury-Atlas 6 rocket. The mission had several objectives – (1) to put a man into orbit, (2) to observe his reactions to space environment, and (3) to safely return to Earth and be readily located. On February 20, 1962, Glenn would successfully complete this mission and provide a wealth of data regarding the effect of weightlessness on the human body.

Statistics:

• Completed orbits: 3
• Distance: 75,679 miles (121,793 km)
• Velocity: 17,544 mph (28,234 km/h)
• Total time in weightlessness: 4 hours, 48 minutes

Additional information about this Brickmania custom building kit:

The Friendship 7 (With John Glenn & Mercury-Atlas 6 rocket) kit comes with the following features

• 360 degree custom printed "John Glenn" with oxygen tank
• 11 printed tiles!
• Launch-able 1/110th scale Mercury-Atlas 6 rocket
• Posable 1/35th scale Friendship 7 capsule which fits 1 mini-figure
• Mechanical launching pad with posable launch tower
• Printed display stand
• Measures 4" deep, 7" wide & 12-1/2" inches tall!
• Designed by Yitzy Kasowitz
• Includes 365 genuine new-condition LEGO® elements
• 1/35 scale to match other Brickmania models
• Intermediate Skill Level (4-6 years of experience with LEGO is recommended)

All Brickmania model kits are made of new-condition LEGO bricks. This model comes disassembled and includes complete printed building instructions and comes packaged in a sealed box. This is a limited-edition kit and production may be discontinued at any time.

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