As any space buff knows, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in February 1962, when he piloted the Friendship 7 spacecraft on a 3 -orbit mission.
Fifty years later, a group called “Americans in Orbit – 50 Years” plans to celebrate with a repeat of that historic flight. They intend to build [...]

A new kind of space vehicle, 27.5 feet long with a 15 foot wingspan, will be launched next year—possibly in January—if all goes well.

Drone space plane
It will be NASA’s X-37B unmanned space plane, designed by Boeing. As a test vehicle, NASA hopes it will be the forerunner of future space planes. An earlier version of [...]

When Alan Shepard was launched into space aboard Freedom 7 in 1961, he was (briefly) one of the most famous men on the planet.

Shepard grounded
Next year, when John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, Shepard became less visible. And, due to a medical condition affecting his inner ear—and his balance—he was grounded. [...]