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An interesting story surrounds last month's  50th anniversary celebration of the  Mercury-Atlas 6 manned space flight... John and Annie Glenn with VP Johnson, 1962 John Glenn's own true heroFor half a century now the world has applauded John Glenn as a heart-stirring American hero. He lifted the nation's spirits when, as one of the original Mercury astronauts, he was blasted alone into orbit around the Earth; the enduring affection for him is so powerful that even now people find themselves misting up at the sight of his face or the sound of his voice. But for all these years, Glenn has...

Planned Parenthood Files Injunction Request to Allow Opening of Aurora Clinic Desperate move to circumvent local laws By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman AURORA, ILLINOIS, September 14, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)--In a desperate move to circumvent local laws, Planned Parenthood filed an emergency injunction petition yesterday in Federal court to allow its new clinic in Aurora, Illinois to open. The city government is reviewing Planned Parenthood's permit filing based on accusations that the real purpose of the "health center" was hidden from city officials: to provide abortions.  The original filing, on March 22, 2007, stated that the occupant would be the "Gemini Health Center",...

(AP) -- The massive jolt that rocked Hawaii damaged some of the world's most advanced equipment for gazing into outer space. Scientists at many of the 13 telescopes atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island, are still examining their implements to gauge the extent of the problems. Many have suspended their celestial observations to inspect equipment for flaws. Christian Veillet, executive director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, said an encoder - a device enabling astronomers to keep track of what part of the sky they are looking at - had a chunk taken out of it when Sunday's...

In recent years the early era of the Air Force’s manned space program have become less murky. Although the details of this early period are still relatively scarce, scholars—many of them working for the Air Force or with its support—have unearthed clues about efforts by General Bernard Schriever to get the Air Force into the manned spaceflight program by any possible means. One project that is now much clearer is the short-lived Blue Gemini program, which was a natural outgrowth of Schriever’s goal to get Air Force officers—blue suiters, as they called themselves—into orbit as soon as possible.

CAPE CANAVERAL -- John Young, who walked on the moon and later commanded the first space shuttle mission, is retiring from NASA this month at 74 years old. The Orlando native first flew to space in 1965 on a Gemini mission with the late Gus Grissom. In 1972, he walked on the moon in the next-to-last Apollo flight. Almost a decade later, Young and pilot Bob Crippen took Columbia on its maiden voyage. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington plans a special celebration in Young's honor on Tuesday.

The longest serving astronaut in history made his retirement plans official today. John W. Young, who has spent 42 years at NASA, plans to leave the space agency on Dec. 31. Young, who commanded the first shuttle mission and flew twice to the moon, was the first human to fly in space six times and the only astronaut to pilot four different spacecraft. He flew in the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs. "John's tenacity and dedication are matched only by his humility," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "He's never sought fame and often goes out of his way to...

LONDON (Reuters) - People born in May in the northern hemisphere have a higher than average risk of developing multiple sclerosis, researchers said on Tuesday. An analysis of data from studies of more than 42,000 people in Canada, Britain, Denmark and Sweden showed that May babies have a 13 percent increased chance of suffering from the illness later in life, but that having a November birthday decreased the average odds by 19 percent. "If you are born in May, your risk is higher than any other month and if you are born in November your risk is lower than any...

Gordon Cooper, one of the nation's first astronauts on the Mercury and Gemini missions, has died, NASA confirms.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... . U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. . . Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family...

LOS ANGELES - One was a rocket plane that flew at the edge of space and with blistering speed. The other was a series of odd-shaped aircraft designed to fly and land without wings. Both research programs are direct ancestors of today's space shuttle, making space travel in reusable, winged vehicles possible, and contributed much to aeronautical knowledge in general. A joint Air Force and NASA research program, the X-15 is considered one of the most successful ever, completing 199 flights from 1959 to 1968 using the skies and dry lake beds of Edwards Air Force Base. A. Scott Crossfield...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 September 9 A Gemini Sky Credit: Gemini Observatory, Peter Michaud & Kirk Pu'uohau-Pummill Explanation: Where will Gemini take us tonight? It is dusk and Gemini North, one of the largest telescopes on planet Earth, prepares to peer into the distant universe. Gemini's flexible 8.1-mirror has taken already effectively taken humanity to distant stars, nebulas, galaxies, and quasars, telling us about the geometry, composition, and evolution of our...

Once again, NASA has proposed to develop a replacement for the troubled Space Shuttle. This year's project goes by the ungrammatical moniker "Orbital Space Plane". An interim version of OSP called the CRV (Crew Rescue Vehicle) to be developed by 2010 will take over the International Space Station lifeboat task now done by Soyuz. An improved OSP called the CTV (Crew Transfer Vehicle) will assume the ISS crew exchange task now done by Shuttle in 2012. To minimize development costs, the OSP will be launched on one of the new EELV family of expendable boosters, Delta 4 or Atlas V....

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 April 4 Clusters and Nebulae of the Hexagon Credit & Copyright: Axel Mellinger Explanation: At first, the bright stars of the large asterism known as the (northern) Winter Hexagon might be hard to pick out in this gorgeous deep sky mosaic from December 2002. But placing your cursor over the picture will reveal the hexagon's outlines and the bright clusters and nebulae along a stunning portion of...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 21 Stars and Planets in the Halo of the Moon Credit & Copyright: Lauri Kangas Explanation: Photographed on March 13th from Caledon, Ontario, Canada, a bright Moon was surrounded by this lovely halo. Planet Jupiter and stars Procyon, Castor, and Pollux also appear within the circle of lunar light. Castor and Pollux, twins in Greek Mythology, are appropriately bright stars of the constellation Gemini while Procyon...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 June 1 NGC 2266: Old Cluster in the New General Catalog Credit: Till Credner & Sven Kohle, Bonn University Explanation: The New General Catalog of star clusters and nebulae really isn't so new. In fact, it was published in 1888 - an attempt by J. L. E. Dreyer to consolidate the work of astronomers William, Caroline, and John Herschel along with others into a useful single, complete...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 April 7 The Eskimo Nebula from Hubble Credit: Andrew Fruchter (STScI) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA Explanation: In 1787, astronomer William Herschel discovered the Eskimo Nebula. From the ground, NGC 2392 resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. In 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged the Eskimo Nebula. From space, the nebula displays gas clouds so complex they are not fully understood. The Eskimo Nebula...