Glenn to navigate cyberspace too
The senator will venture into cyberspace on his return to outer space next week when he takes off aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
TV on the Web, which video-streams events on the Internet, will Webcast the Ohio Democrat's second trip into the cosmos live from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, from 10 a.m. to noon PT on October 29. Liftoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
The Webcast underscores the growing use of the Internet to broadcast live events in conjunction, and sometimes independent of, television coverage. Some organizations have even turned to Webcasting as a way around broadcast regulations or political barriers. (See related story)
Glenn's Webcast will include commentary and discussion from former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who served on the Apollo XI mission. TV on the Web, ShareSpace Foundation, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will produce the event.
The 77-year-old Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962. In January this year, Glenn announced his intention to venture into space for the first time in 36 years, a feat that would give him the dual title of the first and oldest American to orbit the Earth.
Glenn will serve in a number of medical experiments so that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration can study the relationshiop of aging and weightlessness.