It has been 50 years since John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in his Friendship 7 space capsule. In making his nearly 5-hour flight, and history, in the process, Glenn showed the world that the United States was indeed on-par with the Soviet Union, which had already launched 2 orbital flights as compared to 2 non-orbital launches for the United States.
Now, 50 years later, America's space program is celebrating the event with the living legend himself and, for everyone unable to attend festivities in person, NASA TV will prove the gateway to the celebration.
Starting at 1:20pm EST today, NASA TV will be broadcasting live from the NASA Future Forum at Ohio State University, where Glenn will be a featured speaker. The event runs through 4:45pm EST, making for 3 ½ hours of informative programming. The program will feature a video talk between Glenn, current NASA chief Charles Bolden, and the crew of the International Space Station. Glenn will also take part in a panel discussion called “Learning From the Past to Innovate for the Future.”
Tomorrow at 3pm, Glenn will deliver closing remarks at the 2-day event, too.
As for honoring Glenn in the Cleveland area, the Great Lakes Science Center, located in downtown Cleveland, will be hosting a program today starting at 11am (so hurry!) On March 2, the NASA Glenn Research Center, in partnership with Cleveland State University, will be hosting another Glenn-honoring event. Featured speaker: John Glenn himself. Oh, yes, this will be on NASA TV, too.
So, for space enthusiasts and historians alike, the next two weeks will bring some very interesting programming to NASA TV.
For more info:
John Glenn supports manned Mars mission
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