posted 05-20-2017 08:19 AM               

John H. Glenn Lecture in Space History
Remembering John Glenn: The Man and the Legend

National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC
July 18, 2017 | 8:00pm
Free, Tickets Required
This lecture will also be webcast.

John Glenn is one of the most recognized names and public figures in the world, a consequence of his stature as the first American to orbit Earth. That brief event made him a legend, but Glenn's full career spanned more than seven decades as an aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, U.S. Senator, public servant, and educator.

Behind the legend was a man devoted to the nation, the American people, and his family – a genial and thoughtful man of good humor, faith, and eloquence.

These aspects of Glenn's life will be remembered in an intimate conversation among a select few speakers who knew him best.

posted 06-15-2017 09:03 AM               

• The Honorable David Pryor, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, 1979-1997
  
• Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, astronaut and Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum
  
• Moderated by Bob Schieffer, broadcast journalist

posted 06-15-2017 11:56 AM               

Is Kathy Sullivan considered to be one of those people? Wasn't she 10 years old when Friendship 7 launched? How well did she know him when he was a pilot and early astronaut? I know that she's been handed a chair in history position at the museum, which likely makes her appearance mandatory, but does that automatically make her one of the people who knew Glenn best?

Secondly, regarding the name of the event: "The John Glenn Lecture in Space History." Given that the subject is space history and is being held at the Air and Space Museum, why trot out a fellow political traveler from the Senate as well as a presidential debate moderator? It's nothing personal, but I would expect such panelists to be more apropos for a venue at Washington's Newseum.

I realize Glenn's pioneering peers, including the Next Nine and subsequent MGA astronauts are all getting up in years. But certainly they could have selected a better panel for such a distinguished lecture series.

posted 06-15-2017 12:52 PM               

Sullivan worked with Glenn as the first director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy at The Ohio State University's John Glenn School of Public Affairs. Pryor chaired the Senate Committee on Aging, on which Glenn served (and which was part of the basis for Glenn's 1998 return to space on Discovery).

And I believe Schieffer knew Glenn as well, given his decades covering the news on Capitol Hill.

posted 08-13-2017 05:20 PM               

Former Senator David Pryor (D-AR) and geologist and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, veteran of three shuttle missions and the first woman to walk in space, talked about the legacy of late astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn. The discussion was moderated by Bob Schieffer, and John Glenn's daughter, Lyn, also made remarks.