John Glenn was trained to pilot a spacecraft.
John Glenn . On February 20 , 1962 , Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission ; the first American to orbit the Earth , he was the fifth person in space . Mercury-Atlas 6 . The Mercury spacecraft , named Friendship 7 , was carried to orbit by an Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle lifting off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral , Florida .