Tracy Young
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
tracy.g.young@nasa.gov

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
michael.curie@nasa.gov

Andrea Farmer/John Kennedy
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Fla.
321-449-4318/321-449-4273
afarmer@dncinc.com/
jkennedy@dncinc.com

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-26

NASA HOSTS EVENTS TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF AMERICANS IN ORBIT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In celebration of 50 years of Americans in
orbit, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will host several
events Feb. 17 and 18 that will air live on NASA Television.

On Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. EST, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana will host an employee
presentation on NASA TV with the first two Americans to orbit Earth,
Mercury astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. On Feb. 20, 1962,
Glenn piloted his Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first U.S. orbital
mission. Three months later, on May 24, Carpenter became the second
American in orbit.

At 3 p.m., NASA TV will air a news conference with Glenn and
Carpenter. The event will take place at the Kennedy Space Center
Visitor Complex in the Mercury Mission Control exhibit.

On Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m., Glenn and Carpenter will participate in a
ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex honoring all who
made NASA's Project Mercury possible. The "On the Shoulders of
Giants" program will include remarks from Cabana, Sen. Bill Nelson
(D-Fla.) and astronaut Steve Robinson, who flew with Glenn on his
second trip into orbit on shuttle Discovery's STS-95 mission in 1998.

Media interested in covering the news conference and ceremony should
contact Andrea Farmer at 321-449-4318 or John Kennedy at 321-449-4273
for access to the visitor complex.

Highlights from the Feb. 17 and 18 events will air on NASA TV's Video
File. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to
streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, visit:

http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com

For more information about NASA's Project Mercury, visit:

http://go.usa.gov/QIM