COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- John Glenn is making the 50th anniversary of his historic spaceflight with a series of events Monday, including a chat with the International Space Station.
The astronaut became the first American to orbit the Earth on Feb. 20, 1962, helping to lead the nation into space. The trip helped the United States catch up to the former Soviet Union's accomplishments, and Glenn said he thinks it was a turning point for the national psyche.
"It's amazing to me to look back 50 years and think that it's been 50 years," Glenn told The Associated Press last month.
The original Mercury seven astronauts took their first steps towards space training at NASA Langley with the formation of the Space Task Group, which stayed in Hampton until June, 1962.
Retired NASA Langley researcher Bill Scallion recalled working with Glenn.
"You could tell John Glenn to do anything and he'd do it right," said Scallion, "There's a picture of him up on some pedestal waving in a spacesuit. Actually he was waving at me when I was leaving, after making him sit in that capsule in the trainer for four and a half hours."
Glenn and NASA administrator Charles Bolden were expected to speak with the space station on Monday to kick off a NASA forum about the agency's future and its role in advancing fields such as science, technology and the economy.
Glenn and Annie, his wife of almost seven decades, will attend an evening gala featuring a keynote speech by former astronaut Mark Kelly, the commander of the space shuttle Endeavour's final mission.
Glenn was among the top military test pilots presented in 1959 as the Mercury Seven. The only other surviving Mercury astronaut is Scott Carpenter, who called out the memorable line "Godspeed John Glenn" moments before the rocket ignited for Glenn's spaceflight.
"John Glenn is, quite simply, an extraordinary American patriot," Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee said in a statement ahead of the event. "He is a man of boundless courage, limitless optimism and unswerving honor."
In 1998, when he was 77, Glenn returned to space, becoming the oldest person to fly there.
At the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, you can see the Mercury 14 spacecraft that flew in space and hold a piece of the moon.
AP-WF-02-20-12 1513GMT
