John Glenn was not popular with the other astronauts. Glenn was the backup pilot for Shepard and Grissom on the first two manned Project Mercury flights, the sub-orbital missions Mercury-Redstone 3 and Mercury-Redstone 4. Glenn was selected for Mercury-Atlas 6, NASA's first manned orbital flight, with Carpenter as his backup. Putting a man in orbit would achieve one of Project Mercury's most important goals. Shepard and Grissom had named their spacecraft "Freedom 7" and "Liberty Bell 7". The numeral 7 had originally been the production number of Shepard's spacecraft, but had come to represent the Mercury 7. Glenn named his spacecraft, number
John Glenn (judge) John Glenn (judge) John Glenn (October 9, 1795 – July 8, 1853) was a Maryland attorney and federal judge. Born in Elkton, Maryland, Glenn read law to enter the bar in 1817. He was in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland for a time, and then became the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. He was nominated by President Millard Fillmore on March 18, 1852, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland vacated by Upton S. Heath. The following day, Glenn was confirmed by the United States Senate and received his commission. He