Earthlings count down to 50th anniversary of the first American flight to orbit the Earth © 2012 NOLA.com. All rights reserved. Published: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 10:00 AM By The Associated Press The Associated Press   John Glenn fever has taken hold in the U.S. once again. Three days before the 50th anniversary of his historic flight, the first American to orbit the Earth addressed employees at Kennedy Space Center. The NASA auditorium was packed Friday with hundreds of workers hoping to see the space legend.     NASA, via The Associated Press Astronaut John Glenn was photographed Feb. 20, 1962, during his space flight in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, weightless and…

January 9, 2012 To Preserve History on the Moon, Visitors Are Asked to Tread Lightly By KENNETH CHANG California’s catalog of historic artifacts includes two pairs of boots, an American flag, empty food bags, a pair of tongs and more than a hundred other items left behind at a place called Tranquillity Base. The history registry for New Mexico lists the same items. That might be surprising, since Tranquillity Base is not in New Mexico or California but a quarter of a million miles away, in the spot where Neil A. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon in 1969. But for archaeologists and historians worried that the next generation of people…

Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch: NASA Coverage Watch live news stream from ABC News. NASA’s Last Space Shuttle Blasts Into History ABC News photo By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. July 8, 2011 (AP) Atlantis and four astronauts rocketed into orbit Friday on NASA’s last space shuttle voyage, dodging bad weather and delighting hundreds of thousands of spectators on hand to witness the end of an era. It will be at least three years — possibly five or more — before astronauts launch again from U.S. soil, and so this final journey of the shuttle era packed in crowds and roused emotions on a scale not seen since…

Injured US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords sees husband Mark Kelly take the helm as Nasa shuttle nears retirement Endeavour has blasted off on its final space shuttle flight as the mission commander’s wounded wife, the US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, watched along with an exhilarated crowd well into the thousands.Nasa is winding down its 30-year-old shuttle programme before embarking on something new. The event generated the kind of excitement seldom seen near Kennedy Space Centre on such a grand scale, despite a delay of more than two weeks because of an electrical problem.Just before the launch, commander Mark Kelly said: “It’s in the DNA of our great country to reach for the…

It is a common question people have about astronauts. There must be complications at zero gravity when it involves this highly personal activity that everyone, even those in the highest ranks of power, must do, the act of visiting the John, as we have nicknamed the necessary room, named after inventor of the flushable toilet was named Sir John Harrington. According to a Time magazine article, going to the bathroom in space, involves a complicated invention known as “WCS” or “waste collection system.” To learn more visit Time magazine  online.

Apollo 13 returns to Earth, 1970 AMERICAN REVOLUTION Colbert launches raid on Fort Carlos, Arkansas, 1783 AUTOMOTIVE Ford Mustang debuts at World’s Fair, 1964 CIVIL WAR Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina, begins, 1864 COLD WAR The Bay of Pigs invasion begins, 1961 CRIME A single horsehair uncovers a murderer, 1936 DISASTER Volcanic eruption kills 80,000, 1815 GENERAL INTEREST Benjamin Franklin dies, 1790 Yugoslavia surrenders, 1941 Architect of Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring resigns, 1969 HOLLYWOOD General Hospital airs 10,000th episode, 2002 LITERARY Isak Dinesen is born, 1885 MUSIC Eddie Cochran dies, and Gene Vincent is injured, in a UK car accident, 1960 OLD WEST Life of Billy the Kid arrives at Library…

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 NASA has stated that it intends to put up its three space shuttle orbiters — Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour — on museums for public display after the fleet is retired. The agency requested interested museums submit statements of interest, including details for how they plan to meet the requirement of exhibiting an orbiter in an environmentally-controlled, enclosed display. NASA has reserved Discovery for the Smithsonian but the fates of Atlantis and Endeavour, as well as the prototype Enterprise have yet to be decided. In the interim, some of the 20 organizations vying for an orbiter have released concepts for how they plan to exhibit a retired…