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On February 20th, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. On
board his Friendship 7 spacecraft was a Minolta Hi-matic camera to record that historic
event. The 4 hour, 55 minute, and 23 second flight orbited the Earth three times at an
average speed of 28,000 kph (17,500 mph).
Mr. Glenn visited our Sakai camera factory in Japan on May
24th, 1963 to plant a palm tree to celebrate the occasion.
The palm tree is still in the courtyard of the factory and
stands over eight meters tall (26ft).
The camera? It was not lost. It is on display at the
Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space
Museum in Washington D.C. This and other
objects from John Glenn’s Friendship 7 Mercury
flight can be found in galley 210, “Apollo to the
Moon.”
Minolta History
