Plaques at Launch Complex 14
Velocity of an object in orbit equation

"...ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX TASKS EVER PRESENTED
TO MAN IN THIS COUNTRY ··· THE ACHIEVEMENT OF
MANNED FLIGHT IN ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH."
- JOHN F. KENNEDY

THIRTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

THIS MARKER COMMEMORATES THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS
AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION'S PROJECT MERCURY, WHICH
FIRST PUT FREE MEN INTO SPACE. THE FOUR MANNED
ORBITAL CAPSULES WERE BOOSTED INTO SPACE BY ATLAS
ROCKETS, WHICH WERE LAUNCHED BY THE UNITED STATES
AIR FORCE FROM COMPLEX 14, LOCATED 2200 FEET EAST
OF HERE AT 28° 29' 27.1428" NORTH LATITUDE AND
80° 32' 49.6107 WEST LONGITUDE. CONTAINED IN A CAPSULE
HEREIN TO BE OPENED IN THE YEAR 2464 A.D. ARE
TECHNICAL REPORTS OF THESE FLIGHTS.

DEDICATED 1964 A.D., TO THE THOUSANDS OF MEN AND
WOMEN OF THE FREE WORLD WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE
SUCCESS OF PROJECT MERCURY.

"SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE" ANON.
JOHN H. GLENN, JR.

The FIRST AMERICAN TO TRAVEL AROUND
THIS PLANET BEGAN HIS THREE-ORBIT FLIGHT
FROM THIS LAUNCH COMPLEX IN FRIENDSHIP 7
OF MERCURY ATLAS NO. 6 AT

9:47 AM FEBRUARY 20, 1962

PROJECT MERCURY WAS A VITAL STEP ON
MAN'S JOURNEY TO THE MOON

JOHN F. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
FROM THIS SITE, COMPLEX 14 AT CAPE CANAVERAL
AIR FORCE STATION, ASTRONAUT JOHN GLENN, JR.
BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT THE EARTH.
HIS THREE-ORBIT FLIGHT ON FEB. 20, 1962 WAS
FOLLOWED BY LONGER FLIGHTS BY SCOTT CARPENTER,
WALTER SCHIRRA, AND GORDON COOPER TO COMPLETE
PROJECT MERCURY, AMERICA'S FIRST STEPS ON
THE PATH TO SPACE.