--- title: Astronaut John Glenn Was First Person to Eat in Space description: John Glenn made history when he became the first man to orbit around around the earth, but few knew he was the first person to eat in space. canonical: https://time.com/4595923/astronaut-john-glenn-was-the-first-person-to-eat-in-space/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-08T22:07:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:19.635Z og:title: Astronaut John Glenn Was the First Person to Eat in Space og:description: What he ate might surprise you og:url: https://time.com/4595923/astronaut-john-glenn-was-the-first-person-to-eat-in-space/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90561452e67332c/6988b23bcd1bba54a270356c/john-glenn-united-states-astronaut-hp.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: john-glenn-united-states-astronaut-hp og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Astronaut John Glenn Was the First Person to Eat in Space twitter:description: What he ate might surprise you twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90561452e67332c/6988b23bcd1bba54a270356c/john-glenn-united-states-astronaut-hp.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Astronaut John Glenn Was the First Person to Eat in Space  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 8, 2016 10:07 PM UTC  John Glenn boards the Friendship 7 capsule to become the first American to orbit the earth, during the Mercury-Atlas 6) mission, on Feb. 20, 1962\. A temporary handle bolted to the outside of the spacecraft made the clumsy maneuver a little easier. John Glenn boards the Friendship 7 capsule to become the first American to orbit the earth, during the Mercury-Atlas 6) mission, on Feb. 20, 1962\. A temporary handle bolted to the outside of the spacecraft made the clumsy maneuver a little easier.NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 8, 2016 10:07 PM UTC Astronaut John Glenn, [who passed away on Thursday at the age of 95](http://time.com/4594658/john-glenn-dead/), is most well-known for being [the first American to orbit the Earth](http://time.com/4594546/john-glenn-astronaut-history/) (circling it three times in 4 hours and 56 minutes, at speeds of more than 17,000 mph.) However, what most people don’t remember about his space career is that Glenn was also the first person to eat in space. [_TIME_](http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1911617,00.html) reported that the spaceman ate applesauce (one of many pureed foods in tubes that NASA offered astronauts on the Project Mercury and Gemini missions) in zero gravity and reported relatively easy digestion in 1962. Being the first person to eat in space was just the start of Glenn’s numerous accomplishments, which included serving four terms as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and returning to space as a septuagenarian on a mission for then-President Bill Clinton. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4595923/astronaut-john-glenn-was-the-first-person-to-eat-in-space/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4595923/astronaut-john-glenn-was-the-first-person-to-eat-in-space/"},"headline":"Astronaut John Glenn Was the First Person to Eat in Space","datePublished":"2016-12-08T22:07:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:19.635Z","description":"What he ate might surprise you","url":"https://time.com/4595923/astronaut-john-glenn-was-the-first-person-to-eat-in-space/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","NASA","Culture","john glenn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90561452e67332c/6988b23bcd1bba54a270356c/john-glenn-united-states-astronaut-hp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90561452e67332c/6988b23bcd1bba54a270356c/john-glenn-united-states-astronaut-hp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"john-glenn-united-states-astronaut-hp","caption":"John Glenn boards the Friendship 7 capsule to become the first American to orbit the earth, during the Mercury-Atlas 6) mission, on Feb. 20, 1962.","creditText":"NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4595923/astronaut-john-glenn-was-the-first-person-to-eat-in-space/","name":"Astronaut John Glenn Was the First Person to Eat in Space"}}]}] ```