JOHN GLENN

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On Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn circled Earth three times in a capsule named Friendship 7, pulling off the United States' first-ever crewed orbital spaceflight.

The astronauts on the International Space Station, who are the latest to follow John Glenn into orbit, and the city that lit up for his mission 60 years ago marked the legacy of Glenn's spaceflight.

Blue Origin’s July launch of its New Shepard rocket broke four Guinness World Records, including the oldest and youngest person to fly to space; the first siblings in space at the same time and the first suborbital spacecraft to carry paying customers.

(AP Photo/File) (Anonymous)NEW CONCORD, Ohio — (AP) — John Glenn has been honored over the weekend with a three-day festival in Ohio marking what would have been the history-making astronaut and U.S. senator’s 100th birthday. Glenn, who died in 2016, was the first American to orbit Earth, making him a national hero in 1962. The John Glenn Centennial Celebration Friday to Sunday was a collaboration between Cambridge, where Glenn was born on July 18, 1921, and nearby New Concord, where he grew up and met his late wife, Annie, who died last year at 100 of complications from COVID-19. Edward and Jill Schuck wrote to John Glenn letting him know they’d be naming their son after him, not expecting a response. John Glenn made sure to have signed photos sent to Schuck to commemorate the historic occasion.

John Glenn has been honored over the weekend with a three-day festival in Ohio marking what would have been the history-making astronaut and U.S. senator’s 100th birthday.

John Glenn has been honored over the weekend with a three-day festival in Ohio marking what would have been the history-making astronaut and U.S. senator’s 100th birthday. Before that, he served as a military fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War and set a transcontinental air speed record. The John Glenn Centennial Celebration Friday to Sunday was a collaboration between Cambridge, where Glenn was born on July 18, 1921, and nearby New Concord, where he grew up and met his late wife, Annie, who died last year at 100 of complications from COVID-19.

An 82-year-old Mercury 13 aviator and an 18-year-old physics student will fly on the all-civilian crew.

When Blue Origin launches people into space for the first time, founder Jeff Bezos will be on board.

(AP Photo/File) (Anonymous)COLUMBUS, Ohio — (AP) — A three-day celebration of what would have been history-making astronaut John Glenn's 100th birthday began Friday in his birthplace and childhood hometown in Ohio, even as additional events were announced to mark the occasion. Glenn, who died in 2016, was the first American to orbit Earth, making him a national hero in 1962. The John Glenn Centennial Celebration in both Cambridge, where Glenn was born on July 18, 1921, and nearby New Concord, where he grew up and met his late wife, Annie, runs through Sunday. At Ohio State University, the John Glenn College of Public Affairs has updated seven display cases in Page Hall in honor of Glenn’s life, legacy of public service and relationship to the university, which houses Glenn's archives. A pending Ohio House resolution would urge Congress to award both Glenns a Congressional Gold Medal.

(AP Photo/File) (Anonymous)COLUMBUS, Ohio — (AP) — A three-day celebration of what would have been history-making astronaut John Glenn's 100th birthday began Friday in his birthplace and childhood hometown in Ohio, even as additional events were announced to mark the occasion. Glenn, who died in 2016, was the first American to orbit Earth, making him a national hero in 1962. The John Glenn Centennial Celebration in both Cambridge, where Glenn was born on July 18, 1921, and nearby New Concord, where he grew up and met his late wife, Annie, runs through Sunday. At Ohio State University, the John Glenn College of Public Affairs has updated seven display cases in Page Hall in honor of Glenn’s life, legacy of public service and relationship to the university, which houses Glenn's archives. A pending Ohio House resolution would urge Congress to award both Glenns a Congressional Gold Medal.

A three-day celebration of what would have been history-making astronaut John Glenn’s 100th birthday has begun in his birthplace and childhood hometown in Ohio, even as further plans are announced.

An 18-year-old from the Netherlands is about to become the youngest person in space.

An 18-year-old is about to become the youngest person in space, rocketing away with an aviation pioneer who will become the oldest at age 82. Blue Origin announced Thursday that instead of an auction winner launching with founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, Oliver Daemen will be on board. Also soaring on Blue Origin’s first launch with passengers: Bezos’ brother and Wally Funk, one of 13 female pilots who went through the same studies in the early 1960s as NASA's Mercury 7 astronauts did, but were rejected for being women.

Richard Bransons' flight Sunday (July 11) was just the first of two planned billionaire spaceflights this month. Blue Origin boss Jeff Bezos is scheduled to fly on July 20.

Pioneering aviator Wally Funk is set to beat one of John Glenn's spaceflight records.

Heading to space In this 2019 photo made available by NASA, Mercury 13 astronaut trainee Wally Funk visits the Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio. Funk is being called an “honored guest.” Bezos shared the news of Funk’s selection on Instagram. Mercury 13 FILE - In this 1995 file photo, members of the FLATs, also known as the Mercury 13, gather for a photo as they attend a shuttle launch in Florida. From left are Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Rutley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman. Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos has chosen Funk, an early female aerospace pioneer, to rocket into space with him later this month.

Wally Funk has been ready to become an astronaut for six decades.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — (AP) — Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos has chosen an early female aerospace pioneer — an 82-year-old pilot denied astronaut wings decades ago because of her gender — to rocket into space with him later this month. Funk is among the so-called Mercury 13 women who went through astronaut training in the 1960s, but never made it to space — or even NASA’s astronaut corps — because they were female. At age 82, Funk will become the oldest person to launch into space. She’ll beat the late John Glenn, who set a record at age 77 when flying aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson is aiming to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space by nine days.

In Mercury Rising, historian Jeff Shesol recalls the early days of the U.S. space program, when Cold War fears ruled, and no one was sure Glenn would survive America's first orbital flight.

Officials called it a “river monster.”

Officials called it a “river monster.”

A group working to elect candidates with science, technology, engineering and math backgrounds plans to spend $50 million in the 2022 midterm elections.

(NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A piece of the Wright brothers’ first airplane is on Mars. NASA’s experimental Martian helicopter holds a small swatch of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, the space agency revealed Tuesday. The helicopter, named Ingenuity, hitched a ride to the red planet with the Perseverance rover, arriving last month. It will mark a "Wright brothers' moment," noted Bobby Braun, director for planetary science at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The swatch made the 300 million-mile journey to Mars with the blessing of the Wright brothers' great-grandniece and great-grandnephew, said park curator Steve Lucht.

Blue Origin , which is run by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos , announced today (Feb. 25) that it's pushing the target date for the debut launch of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket from late 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022. Each New Glenn first stage will be capable of launching 25 missions, Blue Origins representatives say. Such reuse is key to Blue Origin's overall vision, which involves helping humanity extend its footprint out into the final frontier . The company has already scored New Glenn launch contracts with Eutelsat, Mu Space, OneWeb, Sky Perfect JSAT and Telesat, as Space News noted . "New Glenn is proceeding to fulfill its current commercial contracts, pursue a large and growing commercial market, and enter into new civil space launch contracts," Blue Origin representatives wrote in today's update.

The rocket is delivering cargo to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A space station supply ship named after the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” rocketed into orbit Saturday, the 59th anniversary of John Glenn's historic launch. Northrop Grumman's Cygnus capsule — dubbed the S.S. Katherine Johnson — should reach the International Space Station on Monday following its launch from Virginia's eastern shore. He noted that the space station flew over Virginia just 10 minutes ahead of Saturday's launch. The capsule also holds 120,000 tiny roundworms for a muscle experiment, as well as off-the-shelf computer equipment to increase data processing speed at the space station.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, Axiom announced they will be the first private space station crew, a year ahead of the planned launch. (Courtesy Axiom Space via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket. “This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It’s never been done before," said Axiom's chief executive and president Mike Suffredini, a former space station program manager for NASA. Russia has been in the off-the-planet tourism business for years, selling rides to the International Space Station since 2001.

In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the company's New Shepard rocket lands after a test flight in West Texas on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (Blue Origin via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company launched a new capsule into space Thursday to test all the astronaut perks before people strap in. Thursday’s flight with a dummy named Mannequin Skywalker lasted 10 minutes and reached 66 miles (106 kilometers) above West Texas. Both the New Shepard rocket and the capsule landed successfully. It was the 14th flight to the fringes of space for a New Shepard rocket.

(Nicholas Kamm/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Arizona Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, narrowing Republican control of the chamber and underscoring his state's shift from red to blue. Kelly, 56, defeated GOP Sen. Martha McSally in last month's election, making her one of only three incumbents to lose. Kelly's Arizona colleague, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, held the Bible on which he took his oath. In what was one of the country's most expensive Senate races, Kelly raised $89 million. That was second only to the $108 million collected by defeated South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Jaime Harrison, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The first season of "The Right Stuff" comes to an end with the flight of the first American into space. Related: These astronauts read 'The Right Stuff' and flew in spaceWarning: What follows contains spoilers for the eighth episode, "Flight." Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton, portrayed by Micah Stock, serves as capcom in the Mercury Control Center, in the first season finale of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff." "And astronaut Shepard is acting like a real test pilot now as he flies the capsule manually," announces Powers. Though he may have experienced early symptoms before and around the time of his Mercury flight, he did not seek treatment until the next year.

The seventh episode of " The Right Stuff " borrows its title from a tower that journalist Tom Wolfe used to define who had "the right stuff." Related: These astronauts read 'The Right Stuff' and flew in spaceWarning: What follows contains spoilers for the seventh episode, "Ziggurat." Episode 7: 'Ziggurat'Jake McDorman as Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard in the seventh episode of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff." "Wait, you're going to be an astronaut, just like dad? The first attempt to launch Shepard on his Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) mission was on May 2, 1961.

In "Vostok," now streaming on Disney Plus , the Mercury astronauts face bureaucratic scrutiny, technical setbacks and their own personal demons, which all threaten to derail the burgeoning space program. " The Right Stuff " is based on journalist Tom Wolfe's 1979 bestselling book by the same title. Related: These astronauts read 'The Right Stuff' and flew in spaceWarning: What follows contains spoilers for the series' sixth episode, "Vostok." Meanwhile, flight director Chris Kraft (Eric Ladin) and Space Task Group director Bob Gilruth meet with Shepard, Grissom and Glenn at Mercury Mission Control. A new episode of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff" begins streaming on Disney+ every Friday through Nov. 20.

Shepard tells Glenn he is going to stay at the beach and finish his drink before going back in. Fearing what the story would do to the space program, Glenn tells Shepard he will take care of it. The story is absent from the paper, but Glenn tells Shepard to gather the guys. "It's been described in practically everything that's been written about Project Mercury, most notably by Tom Wolfe in 'The Right Stuff,'" Glenn wrote. A new episode of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff" begins streaming on Disney+ every Friday through Nov. 20.

(SpaceX via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – It’s back to the future as NASA astronauts launch again from the U.S. — aboard a retro-style “Right Stuff” capsule. SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule outshines NASA’s old Apollo spacecraft in virtually every way. This fresh take on a vintage look will be on full display Wednesday when SpaceX plans to launch NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station — a first for a private company. Russia’s workhorse Soyuz capsules, still in use after a half-century plus, have kept NASA astronauts flying to the space station. A test dummy soloed on last year’s Dragon crew capsule debut.

FILE - In this Dec. 8, 1983 file photo, Annie Glenn speaks during an interview in Newport, N.H. Glenn, the widow of astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, died Tuesday, May 19, 2020, of COVID-19 complications at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minn., at age 100. During WW II, the Korean war and two flights into outer space, Annie patiently waited for her John to come home, Butland said. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Annie Glenn Award was created to honor people who overcome a communication disorder. The university bestows an Annie Glenn Leadership Award annually. The Glenns served on the board of the college, now Muskingum University, and Annie Glenn was named a distinguished alumni fellow in speech communications.

COLUMBUS, Ohio Annie Glenn, the widow of astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, died Tuesday at age 100. Annie Glenn was thrust into the spotlight in 1962, when her husband became the first American to orbit Earth. The Annie Glenn Award was created to honor individuals who overcome a communication disorder. Defense Secretary William Cohen honored Annie Glenn with the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1998. The department bestows an Annie Glenn Leadership Award annually.

Mary Jackson was one of the "human computers" portrayed in the film "Hidden Figures." "Hidden Figures," a 2016 book by Margot Lee Shetterly and a movie based on the book, celebrates the contributions of some of those workers. Beginning in 1935, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), a precursor of NASA, hired hundreds of women as computers. As the years passed and the center evolved, the West Computers became engineers and electronic computer programmers. "Hidden Figures" focuses on three computers: Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan.

That's the biggest building at NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC), where scientists and engineers have been developing technologies for flight for eight decades. The center began as the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (AERL), a department of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor of NASA. When NACA became NASA in 1958, the laboratory became the NASA Lewis Research Center. An aerial view of NASA's Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio. Looking ahead, NASA's Structural Heat Intercept Insulation Vibration Evaluation Rig, or SHIIVER, is currently being tested at Plum Brook Station, Wittry said.

Blue Origin tests one of the BE-4 rocket engines the company is developing to launch its New Glenn rocket. That's a quickly approaching scenario in the United States military's current rocket launch acquisition process, which features billionaires' space projects going toe-to-toe with defense contracting giants. But it's a situation that Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, wants to change. In a meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Blue Origin laid out its view of needed adjustments to the government's approach when buying rocket launches. Both were factors that Blue Origin says are understated by the military in importance.

CLERMONT Revisit the history of the moon landing at Shoot for the Moon, a 50th anniversary salute to a historic American achievement hosted by Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning producer and interviewer Charlie Grinker. Grinker will entertain and inform the audience as he discusses the history of space and the Apollo missions, honoring the first moon landing and the incredible efforts it took to get there. Motion pictures of rocket testing in Massachusetts and New Mexico move the show forward on the journey to the moon. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland honors Professor Goddard. Witness their historic journey into history as they share their thoughts while walking on the lunar surface.

Here's a look at the week ahead at some of this week's highlighted events, which include the 95th birthday of former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and the Quidditch World Cup competition, Jane Pauley reports.

Second Chance Ed Bradley interviews 77-year-old Sen. John Glenn, who in 1962 became the first astronaut to orbit the earth, as he prepares to lift off again on the space shuttle Discovery.