The film accurately portrays what was believed to be a heat shield failure upon re-entry. The film did not provide further explanation, but it turns out a micro-switch on the landing bag, which the heat shield was connected to, was faulty. This caused an indication that the landing bag was deployed and thus the heat shield probably would not have "ablated" properly. The flaming debris seen upon re-entry was not the heat shield but the retrorocket pack, which was not jettisoned, in an attempt to hold the landing bag in place. At the time, however, John Glenn had no way of knowing that.

Film

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