NASA MARKS 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICANS IN ORBIT

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/feb/HQ_M0725_Mercury_Anniversary.html

WASHINGTON - NASA commemorates the 45th anniversary of Americans in
orbit with a special multimedia salute to the original Mercury
astronauts and new interviews with Sen. John Glenn, Scott Carpenter and
Walter Schirra.
[See below]
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It doesn't seem like we have been in orbit this long, but then time
marches on and we aren't back to the Moon yet.
- LRK -

There is more NASA News at the link below.
- LRK -
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http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/index.html
Snip
02.16.07 - NASA Commercial Space Partners Complete Milestones
NASA Commercial Space Partners Complete Milestones

HOUSTON - Two companies that are receiving NASA Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services funds achieved significant milestones this month
in their efforts to develop and demonstrate space cargo launch and
delivery systems.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) completed a preliminary design
review for its first orbital demonstration mission. Rocketplane Kistler
completed a system requirements review for its cargo services system.
The two companies want to offer commercial delivery services for cargo,
and possibly crews, to the International Space Station in the future. In
August 2006, NASA and the companies signed Space Act Agreements that
established a series of milestones and criteria for assessing progress
toward their individual goals.

"These milestones demonstrate genuine progress toward a new way of doing
business for NASA and pave the way for the commercial purchase of
transportation services needed to maintain the International Space
Station," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of the Commercial Crew and
Cargo Program Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. "If these
companies can continue this rapid pace, the first demonstration launches
are right around the corner."
Snip
+ Read More
<http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/feb/HQ_0746_COTS_milestones.html>

Snip
02.15.07 - Shuttle Atlantis Moves to Pad, Crew Ready for Countdown Test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. � The space shuttle Atlantis arrived at its launch
pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 3:09 p.m. EST on top of the
giant vehicle known as the crawler transporter. The next milestone for
the upcoming mission, STS-117, is a full launch dress rehearsal as the
six-member crew prepares to continue building the International Space
Station.

The crawler transporter began carrying Atlantis out of Kennedy's Vehicle
Assembly Building at 8:19 a.m. It traveled just under 1 mph during the
3.4 mile journey.

While at the pad, the shuttle will undergo final testing, payload
installation and a "hot fire" test of auxiliary power units. When
testing is completed, the rotating service structure will be moved
around the vehicle for protection.
Snip
+ Read More
<http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/feb/HQ_M0724_117_tcdt.html>

Snip
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Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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Following from NASA News - LRK -
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/feb/HQ_M0725_Mercury_Anniversary.html
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Feb. 16, 2007

Bob Jacobs
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600

RELEASE: 07-45

NASA MARKS 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICANS IN ORBIT

WASHINGTON - NASA commemorates the 45th anniversary of Americans in
orbit with a special multimedia salute to the original Mercury
astronauts and new interviews with Sen. John Glenn, Scott Carpenter
and Walter Schirra.

On Feb. 20, 1962, an Atlas rocket successfully carried Glenn and the
hopes of an entire nation into orbit aboard Friendship 7, a flight
that ushered in a new era of space travel that eventually led to
Americans walking on the moon by the end of the 1960s. "Glenn's
achievement came at a time when there were many unknowns about the
ability of humans to survive in space," said NASA Deputy
Administrator Shana Dale.

Glenn was soon followed into orbit by colleagues Carpenter, Schirra
and Gordon Cooper. Their fellow Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and
Virgil "Gus" Grissom flew earlier suborbital flights, and Donald
"Deke" Slayton was grounded by a medical condition until the
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

NASA remembers the achievements of its first generation of explorers
through special programming and interviews on NASA Television and an
extraordinary interactive feature on the agency's Internet site,
www.nasa.gov, beginning at noon EST, Friday.

A half-hour program that highlights the achievements of Mercury and
the 45th anniversary of Americans in orbit will be broadcast on NASA
TV. Extended interviews with surviving Mercury astronauts Glenn,
Carpenter and Schirra also will be available on NASA TV's Video File
feeds for media organizations, as will a special message from the
Expedition 14 crew orbiting Earth on board the International Space
Station.

The interactive Internet feature is hosted by NASA astronaut Carl Walz
and will offer a rare virtual look inside Glenn's Mercury spacecraft,
which is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and
Space Museum in Washington.

Images from a rare photo shoot inside the tiny Friendship 7 capsule
provides a 360-degree tour of the spacecraft. Plus, users can select
the questions answered by veteran space explorers Glenn, Carpenter
and Schirra.

To experience the 45th anniversary of Americans in Orbit multimedia
feature, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mercury

For more information about NASA TV programming, Video File feed times,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


-end-


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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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