it is today over the weekend surviving members of the mercury team accompanied john glen and scott carpenter the only still living original 7 astronauts out to the old

scott carpenter and i are still around. when you've had five of your colleagues like that pass on it's sort of, i guess comes home to you that your own mortality is around here some place. >> reporter: john glenn has never been accused of lack of dedication. in april glenn and his wife annie will celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary. for decades he was told he could never return to space because he was a national treasure. he finally wore them down and at 77 he went back up in the space shuttle for good measure. >> it's been a fine mission so far. >> the ultimate irony may be it irks senator glenn that the manned space program is now idle. the shuttle program is over and the only ride available into space for american astronauts is the russians, the former enemy that john glenn was chasing into space 50 years ago today. that is our broadcast for this holiday monday night. thanks for being with us as we start off a new week. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right

former ohio senator john glenn and scott carpenter joined florida senator bill nelson for the ceremony today in cape canaveral. the ceremony acknowledged 125 crew members that put the mercury mission in orbit. glenn and carpenter are the only surviving astronauts from that mission. >>> john glenn is joining us tomorrow on fox 5 morning news reflecting on the past 50 years at 7:30. >>> just minutes aw nissan's sports xtra a wild golf finish and the return of baseball. >>> gwen is checking your forecast. i guess it really depends where you live whether you say any trace of snow. >> absolutely. some of you are seeing rain, some of you a little mix. we'll have the details on what to expect for your holiday coming up after the break. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum, we can empower more people to innovate, create jobs, and put momentum behind our economy. and a spectrum auction could raise as much as 30 billion dollars to help fund the payroll tax cut. it'

nasa honoring him and fell he low astronaut scott carpenter.ought you a taste of the celebrations the at kennedy space center last night on fox report. >> the people that made it work that are doing the research so important for this country and for the world, and for how we get along with everybody, you're the ones who deserve the accolades and i think of when i think of past progress of saying to people who love this, this effort, we ain't seen nothing yet. >> harris: i believe it. tomorrow will cap off days of event paying tribute to glenn's ground breaking mission and our steve harrigan has more. >> a major milestone for the u.s. agency. nasa marking 50 years of orbit. kicking off celebrations, the man who led the country's charge into space flight, john glenn, the former senators free mere journey took place aboard friendship 7 on february 20th. 1962. circling the earth three times, almost 40 years later. he'd take a ride on shuttle discovery in 1998. at the age of 77. and oldest person to ever do so. but as glenn and as the second america

>> yesterday at cape canavarel, 50 years later, glenn and fellow astronaut scott carpenter gathered with the scientist who helped america even the score in the space race. >> there wasn't any closer brotherhood ever formed than that which came together to get things off, but you're the people that made it happen. >> everything about space we take for granted today was untested then. >> roger, zero g. >> glenn recalls scientists were worried his eyes would change shape in the weightlessness, so they taped up mini eye charts on top of the instrument panel. what glenn could not imagine then was that half a century later, the u.s. would be depending on the russians for rides into orbit. he talked about it with brian williams. >> sort of a little nostalgia, but in the bigger picture, i'm sorry that we're not maximizing the research return out of the space program. the international space station is the most unique laboratory ever put together by human beings. it also means without the shuttle we have no way of getting into space ourselves. >> today exotic robots and landers go where 50 years

on saturday he and scott carpenter celebrated the golden anniversary at cape canaveral in florida.hey're the only two left from the mercury 7 astronauts. >>> an amazing story of survival. a man in sweden was trapped in his snow covered car for months. he was found by snowmobilers on friday. he had a sleeping bag, drank snow, but hasn't eaten anything since december 19th. i wouldn't have made it. doctors say he could have survived by hibernating like a bear. haman is in the hospital recovering this morning. >>> defending covert operation tracking muslim students. it's reaching into some of the elite ivy league colleges. acetone i guide a reports, they follow the same rules as the fbi. >> the challenge for the nypd is to make sure this never happens again. after 9/11, the department hired a top icia official to kree tate a counterterrorism intelligence division. they were in canada, the mideast and the far east. at home, muslim students were targeted as potential terrorists. >> it's quite surprising to feel that we are considered suspicious individuals. >> this man is a student at ci

scott carpenter and i were side by side and back on a street right just about 100 yards away was gus grissom, wally, all of us in sort of little area there. and that was really a tragic loss. it came as -- i think looking back on it, obviously, it was a mistake to have 100% oxygen environment, because all you've got to remember is your high school physics where you had a beaker of oxygen and you had just a little red-hot wire and you dipped the wire in there, and remember the wire metal burned when you put it in there. well, the mistake that was made on that as near as they can determine was they had some paper inside there. maybe the paper shouldn't have been in there. and a spark came out from they think during a test that they were on, and in that 100% oxygen environment, once that spark hit the paper, why, it just -- that was it. it was just practically explosive, and those are three fine people that were lost that time, not only gus, but roger chaffee and ed white, just outstanding folks. so that was the only loss nasa had before we had the "challenger" accident. and so gus was

one day we were testing the spacecraft and scott carpenter was in. you need to understand the old suit system. to begin with all the suits were set up to fly in space at 5 psi absolute pressure. so you had a sir clafting system in the suit where the air would recirculate, go through, take the carbon monoxide out and so on. here was carter with several hours in it. all after sudden you hear. oops, something is wrong. minute later you go like, oh. and by that time i could see the doctor climbing up on their chairs. scott, what is wrong? one more time and they became unglued and wanted to stop the count. they said, scott, tell us what is wrong. he said, okay, if you really want to know. he said that's the last time i go to that german restaurant. and not have sauerkraut and beer. i leave it to your imagination what happened in his suit. everything would come back to him, whatever was in the suit. >> what fun. >> we had some lighter moments. >> you talked about all the things that you did to get ready for close-out. one of the things was getting the astr

this question i guess doesn't have a clear-cut answer, but your backup on "friendship 7" was scott carpenter, and he, of course, inherited deke slayton's flight following your flight. and i was wondering if, perhaps, one of the reasons that "aurora 7" might have gone less than perfect was that carpenter only had a six weeks to get ready for the flight, do specific training, and your flight had been delayed a couple months and maybe didn't really train so much as help you get ready for "friendship 7"? >> no, i don't think that was the case at all. i think because we all had trained very hard on -- any one of the seven could have gone on any mission at that time. we were all adequately trained to do it. so i don't think that had anything to do with scott's problems. there was a misalignment on the spacecraft, as best they could determine, i think, where when the retro rockets were fired, as you're traveling -- remember now, you're traveling almost five miles a second. each second in error gives you five miles off, and any misalignment and yaw or so on would also give you the improper vector to

this question i guess doesn't have a clear-cut answer, but your backup on "friendship 7" was scott carpenter, and he, of course, inherited deke slayton's flight following your flight. and i was wondering if, perhaps, one of the reasons that "aurora 7" might have gone less than perfect was that carpenter only had a six weeks to get ready for the flight, do specific training, and your flight had been delayed a couple months and maybe didn't really train so

orbit the earth aboard the french should subsequentlyfriendship seven honored ceremony along with scott carpenter over the weekend at the space center >> such an impressive thing the time is indelibly imprinted on my memory i can recall it very well >> you might recall that john glenn lines 1998 rejoined nasa at age 77 oldest person ever flew on space shuttle discovery. stray dog from afghanistan united states army sergeant getting together again how they saved each other during a time of war and the test tube hamburgers? the way to get meat from the laboratory to your dinner plate at major milestone for apple i could make you $10,000 richer. a green way to battle an antibiotic resistant hospital infections of the rise stronger strands of bacteria that did not respond to treatment. danish scientists discovered natural way to wipe out the bacteria of a pot plants grow wild in the rainforest breaking down bacteria and natural protective membrane current antibiotics strength to kill the bacteria pregnant meet to life in a test- tube scientists have created a piece of tissue from stem cells they say

at launch complex 14, john glenn and scott carpenter, the other surviving astronaut went to the launchpads a ghost town. when glen went up there was not only risk to his life but all kinds of uncertainty. >> i was anxious. i suited up four times and once the flight was canceled because of weather when i was in the transfer van on the way to the launchpad. i was up twice before and so it was almost hard to believe when we went to the final 18 second count and realized i was really going to go. >> today glen is 90 years old and the other team members that went out over the weekend, they're all in their eights it's a and 70s but full of pride. it was the best times of their lives in the early '60s, leading the charge in science and space. in the buckeye state, john glenn is there, he later became a u.s. senator in ohio. he's there with charles bolden having a two-day forum in columbus, columbus, ohio. if you're in the area and can't get enough of this moment when the united states took the lead and went on to of course be the only country putting man on the moon, this is a great day in human

nasa honored all 125 members of the crew during a ceremony yesterday including john glen and scott carpenterastronauts they are the only surviving acetonaughts from that mission, -- astronauts from that mission, earlier this glen. >> i think before the flight we had been in competition with the russians either the depths of the cold war we didn't know whether communism would spread around the world more than it had that time and it came at that time when the russians were claiming superiority to the united states the flight of friendship 7 was one that helped bring us back from that and i was glad to be selected for that flight. >> it was a very different time in our history. you had the chance to talk to him pretty special. >> fascinating. >> coming up nearly two dozen dogs dropped off at a shelter in western maryland. well, this morning they are in the good loving hands of a virginia shelter and they are looking for their forever homes, so, how can you help? we will have it for you in this mornings pet project. >> look at that face. >> cody simpson is standing by, the pop star is in the ar

yesterday, glenn and fellow astronaut scott carpenter were honored at a ceremony in cape canaveral.the 125 people who helped put the mercury mission in orbit. we are talking live with john glenn in the next hour. he with ill reflect on the past 50 years of space program. >>> mohammed ali celebrated his birthday in las vegas to help bring awareness no parkinson's and other diseases. her disease stevie wonder sang the champ a certainly song for his 70th birthday which was last movement all of the proceeds from the event will go to the center for brain health and the mohammed ali center. >>> a celebrity sighting ahead on fox 5 morning news. cody simpson will join us live in our 9:00 hour. he is climbing the charts with his hit single, on my mind. he will stop by our studio before today's show at the fillmore in silver spring. >> wow! cue all the screaming girls. >> and wisdom. >> come on, tucker! come on! all right. >> good morning. >> it will be great. we're glad to have him. >> we're very excited. >> looking forward to some nice temperatures in our forecast. >> in the five-day foreca

today workers packed a anniversary event featuring him and scott carpenter.nasa starts a series of celebrations to mark his orbit. >> a two day old baby missing for five hours. we heard from the sheriff's department who is searching right now. coming up. we ask officials at eden medical center how the baby could have been taken out the mother knowing. >>> and sea otters in danger. the new predator they are facing. [ male announcer ] what happened when ford owners compared their trucks to a chevy silverado? i can see myself driving in this for hours and hours. i like it. man: i would definitely consider a silverado trade-up from the pick-up truck that i've got right now. [ male announcer ] we dare you to compare your truck to a chevy silverado, the most dependable, longest lasting full-size pick-ups on the road. celebrate president's day. get 0% financing for 60 months on all 2012 silverados. if you trade in an eligible vehicle, get an additional $1,000 trade-in allowance. offer ends february 29th. denny's new sizzlin' skillets are here for a limited time. so

it is today over the weekend surviving members of the mercury team accompanied john glen and scott carpenterhe only still living original 7 astronauts out to the old launch pad, launch complex 14, where of course, that is where the mercury rocket blasted off and those early 1960 u.s. astronauts, truly became legends and national heros, john glen of course is the only person on the planet today, who can say 50 years ago today, i blasted off and or bitted our planet at kennedy space center phil keating, fox news. >> should government employees be allowed to bring guns to work. the legislation up for debate in virginia. >> protest as controversial abortion bills make their way through the state capital [ male announcer ] at green giant we know nature gives us the most nutritious of gifts. but only when they are ready to be given. that's why green giant picks vegetables at their peak. ...and freezes them fast, locking in nutrients ...for you to unwrap. ♪ ho, ho, ho. green giant those five food groups sound a whole lot better when you put them in a taco shell instead of a pyramid. old el paso. wh

astronaut john glenn and all those who made that flight possible, including former astronaut scott carpenterter are the only mercury 7 crew still alive today. glenn's capsule circled the earth three times back on february 20, 1962, just three months later, carpenter completed a similar mission. >> rick: switching gear, not a good week for the people who develop and market smart phone apps. congress signaling apple for falling short when it comes to focusing customers' personal information. the federal trade commission is also targeting google's android phones and the app makers themselves and that agency's concern is kids who are less likely to understand what they're exposing themselves to perhaps when they download an app. what responsibility do these businesses have when it comes to protecting their customers? adult and child alike? kyle harrington is the founder and managing partner of harrington capital management. you're a business guy. you don't like to see new rules or regulations put on businesses. something that might hamper their ability to make a profit. but you're also a dad. so

. >> reporter: nasa workers cheered 90-year-old john glenn and 86-year-old scott carpenter, the onlyt from the original seven astronauts. on february 20th, 1962, glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. >> godspeed, john glenn. >> reporter: glenn lifted off in a converted nuclear missile called friendship 7 and radioed back what he saw. >> i am in a big mass of some very small particles that are brilliantly lit up and they look like little stars. >> reporter: the flakes were frost from the capsule's water exhaust. his three orbits took four hours and 55 minutes and glenn came home to a hero's welcome, but nasa wasn't even sure how glenn's body would react in space. >> doctors were literally concerned at that time that your eyes might change shape and your vision might change enough you couldn't even see the instrument panel enough to make an emergency reentry. >> reporter: carpenter followed aboard aurora 7 in may of 1962 and he learned from glenn's flight. >> we knew by then that man could operate intelligently. >> reporter: the two space veterans talked about the past an

he was among the mercury 7, nasa's freshman class of astronauts of whom only glenn and scott carpenterbout the early days of space travel and about nasa's future where it is not all good news. this week the agency announced severe budget cuts, slashing hundreds of millions of dollars of space exploration. john glenn says he still sees a bright future ahead. >> i think we will do more exploration. i think it will go beyond mars sometime. probably not in our lifetime but sometime. >> and we heard more are from glenn today. steve harrigan has that live from the south florida newsroom. i guess glenn talked about the biggest challenge he had to overcome, steve? >> he certainly did, jon. there were a number of challenges john glenn faced 50 years ago. the lift-off was scrubbed on ten different occasions before finally succeeding. there were suspected problems with the heat shield and real problems with the automatic pie low temperature. the biggert challenge of all was a basic one, would john glenn's body survive the flight. >> could we do this or not. would your are eye balls change shape.

yesterday john glenn and scott carpenter marked the occasion meeting wake-up scientists who helped americaven the score in the space race. glenn says it's hard to believe a half century later that the u.s. is depending on russians for rides into orbit. last year nasa ended its shuttle program due to budget cuts. i know it's tough for the ast astronauts to hear. >> cool to see the photos. i like to watch that. 6:19. the occupy movement heading to prison. we'll tell you why demonstrators will be outside san quentin today. >> presidential app on this presidents day. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur?] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that c help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ let me get that door for you... [ man ] i loved my first car... sometimes the door gets stuck... o

. >>> nasa workers cheered 90-year-old john glenn and 86-year-old scott carpenner. -- carpenter.lenn became the first american to orbit the earth. glenn lifted off in a converted nuclear missile called friendship 7 and radioed back what he saw. >> they look like little stars. >> the flakes were frost from the capsule's water exhaust, his three or bits took three hours and 55 minutes. nasa wasn't even sure how glenn's body would react in space. >> doctors were literally concerned at that time that your eyes might change shape and your vision would change enough to not be able to make an emergency reentry. >>> he learned from glenn's flight. >>> he newbie then that man could operate intelligently. >> reporter: the two space veterans talked about the past and agreed about america's next mission. >> if we make the flight to mars that will regavel nize -- get people going again. >> reporter: john glenn says he only recently gave up flying and sold his twin engine beach craft plane. >> we didn't even know he was there when the media guy was there. they were lick would you guys like to

weekend 50 years after his first historic flight, glenn, along with his fellow mercury 7 astronaut scott carpentergan. >> what you did made you a hero and people need heroes, i think. don't you? >> i think people need heroes. i don't know whether i r one or not as they say. if we can encourage some of the young people of today in this interesting country and in education and technical matters also, it's well worth the effort. >> joining us now right here on our set is bill plante. >> good morning. >> good to have you here. >> you know, john glenn is just still passionate. he's 90 years old and he's still looking very much forward about the u.s. space program. >> you said he's very sharp mentally? >> absolutely. >> reading a lot of books. very curious about the world around him. >> he wishes that the u.s. had space transportation to kin exploring. the fact that we have to depend on the russians to get to the international space station bothers him a lot. >> he looks and sounds so good. why is it so important, the space program? >> scientific exploration and the future of science and what we can lea

rolling out the red carpet in cape canaveral, celebrating john glenn's achievement, also that of scott carpenterthe only remaining member of the seven mercury astronaut crew glenn's mission was scrapped ten times before taking off 50 years ago, due to mechanical or weather prorks and after the first three orbits around the earth, the manual piloting system failed so he had to handle things himself after that, but despite the snags, the technical hiccups glenn said he was never afraid at any time during the mission. >> people ask quite often, were you afraid during the launch, or in orbit, and if you're talking about fear that overcomes what you're supposed to do, no. you train very hard for these flights and i trained very hard for that first orbital flight, and we had tried to foresee all the things that could happen, but we didn't see all of them, and i had some control -- the automatic control system went out at the end of the first orbit, it was wasting fuel and i was able to go to the manual and control that through the backup systems that were provided. >> reporter: john glenn became a nat

members of the famed mercury team including john glenn and the only other surviving astronauts, scott carpentereast of what is now the modern kennedy space center, they know that place is a ghost town now. just a bunch of weeds and empty silos and launch pads. it was a dangerous launch for glennn. that rocket had been unproven but he accepted the risk. >> i was angst to go. once the flight was canceled because of weather while i was in the transfer van. but i was up twice before within and so it was almost hard to believe when i went to the final 18-second count and realized i was going to go on this day 50 years ago, it was a great feeling. >> reporter: with how routine space travel eventually became, and not of the space shuttles not even garnering ratings on the television screens, it's hard to remember back in the early 60s, scientists didn't know what the human toll would be from going into orbit. they thought his eyes might bulge out his sockets and he might have trouble seeing. all of that proved to not be the case. absolute triumph for the u.s. and history. megyn: it's incredible, they

former senator and astronaut john glenn joining former astronaut scott carpenter.seven crew. glenn was the first american to orbit the earth and the third american in space. tonight's ceremony getting underway in about an hour at 6:30 p.m. eastern time. gregg? >> now alley-oop! beautiful play! >> gregg: that kid is amazing. overnight basketball sensation jeremy lin during last night's game against new orleans, they lost that game, breaking their streak. but the knicks' point guard, virtually unknown until now, is still, as they say, linning, an expression that could be trademark. lin sanity is spreading throughout the business world as well. as major companies trying to tap into lin's newfound fame, ed is a managing partner and joins us. you've had a lot of experience managing the personal affairs of all kinds of star athletes, including working with the nba. so what do you make of jeremy lin and his financial potential? >> i think it's fabulous. i just love the whole story. everybody likes a story like this. somebody who makes very little money, then gets a contra

, godspeed john glenn, used met for i canly -- metaphorically in some stories t was echoed by scott carpenter on the left, that is the one alan shepard had flown in. not actually completing a orbit of the earth. to the right, large silver rocket is, replica of what john glenn was in the tiny little capsule. 50 years ago this is exactly what americans heard as we equalized the space race. >> five, four, three, two, one, zero. >> roger, the clock is operating. we're underway. >> loud and clear. roger. >> reporter: so many amazing aspects of that historic flight. john glenn of course became a national hero that day but nobody was really certain, all of the scientists doctors exactly what would happen to a human actually in orbit. there was some concern that the forces of gravity and g-forces would possibly explode his eyes. that never materialized. and john glenn was able to successfully orbit the earth three times on a flight that lasts almost five hours. he splashed down safely east of florida in the bahamas. >> i was just anxious to go. i went on the 11th scheduled date. i suited up four time

the first two americans to circle the earth, john glen and scott carpenter, will be speaking at the kennedyenter. a couple hours later, nasa will try again to launch an atlas rocket, bad weather scrubbed yesterday's scheduled liftoff. and we are following developments in the next hour of the cnn newsroom, check in first with susan candiotti. susan? >> hi, fred. you know, today could be the last day that whitney houston fans can bring flowers and mementos to her childhood church before the funeral on saturday. i will have a live report coming up. >> i'm joe johns in shelby township, michigan. rick santorum campaigning in the state a second straight day, we have heard a lot of talk about the government-sponsored bailouts. do the voters here in michigan really care about that right now? i will have that coming up at the top of the hour. >>> and i'm alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. got an iphone? surprise, "the wall street journal" reports that google has been tracking where you travel online by side stepping your privacy settings. frederica, i will have more on that in the next hou

the first american to orbit the earth as well as number two, scott carpenter.spite the fact that the flight took place 50 years ago mopped the images from that travel are still seared in his memory. >> it is amazing to me to look back 50 years and think that it has been 50 years because i guess it seems, still seems so vivid to me and i guess, it was vivid at the time and so i guess it was easy to remember but it's been a rare day since then over the past 50 years that there hasn't been some recollection or someone hasn't asked a question about spaceflight or about nasa or something. so we recalled this so often. it remained very vivid to me. >> reporter: john glenn orbited the earth three times 50 years ago from monday. the entire flight took just under five hours t was altitude of 162 miles. at the end of the first orbit around the earth the manual system failed so glenn essentially had to pilot the friendship 7 for the final two laps around the earth, heather. heather: amazing looking at that footage. how it nasa responding to plans to cancel the shuttle pro

he was joined by fellow astronauts scott carpenter. >>> tough words from one conservative pastor whomandate amounts to an attack on religious freedom. he is asking "how dumb does he think we are? ". up next, a fair and balanced debate. stay tuned. i habe a cohd. i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! the adult gummy vitamin with the taste and nutrition that just might inspire a little "healthy" competition. [ laughing ] enjoy your gummy vitamins. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] not everything powerful has to guzzle fuel. the 2012 e-class bluetec from mercedes-benz. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want

we found that out on scott carpenter's flight, on the next flight.nous color, white light acts that way from the sun and the atmosphere and the spacecraft coming back from the earth. i don't know if we ever have figure thad that one out quite . it was startling. it wasn't a problem, just something we hadn't anticipated. >> it would be like on that flight, things you hadn't anticipated on the bad side. the automatic control system, something else you hadn't anticipated. at the end of the first or bid there was trouble with that and you had to take manual control. >> yeah. >> what was going through your mind? were you afraid? did you -- were you nervous? >> well, that was something we hadn't anticipated also. it was planned to do almost all of the first two orbits on automatic control where i wouldn't control at all. and then to take over manually one axis at a time, roll, pitch, or yaw, and see whether you can control each one of those and finally whether you can control by looking outside and control the spacecraft. these were some of the things we d