Join us for a moderated conversation with two original NASA Mercury astronauts.  Fifty years after the first human spaceflights, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter will talk about their selection as astronauts, the first human spaceflights, and their careers in and out of spaceflight.

On February 20, 1962, John Glenn piloted the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the United States’ first orbital Mercury mission. His flight, launched by a Mercury-Atlas rocket, lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds, all but 7 minutes in weightlessness.  Glenn gained instant national fame as the first American to orbit the Earth.  Glenn later flew in space a second time aboard Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95) in 1998.

Scott Carpenter flew into space on May 24, 1962, aboard Aurora 7, which launched atop a Mercury-Atlas rocket for a three-orbit science mission lasting nearly five hours. He was the second American to orbit the Earth and the fourth American in space.  Carpenter has also performed pioneering research in deep sea diving and habitability on the ocean floor.

The speakers will not be signing autographs at the lecture.

The lecture will take place in the IMAX Theater and will be simulcast to overflow seating in the museum.  The Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, as well as John Glenn and Scott Carpenter will visit each overflow area prior to the lecture for a brief welcome to the overflow guests.

TICKETING:
Requests for tickets will be taken by web request from Monday, May 9 – Friday, June 3, 2011.  Up to 4 tickets can be requested.  All requests received during this time will be entered into a random drawing for seats.*  All requesters are eligible for theater seating, overflow seating or standby and will be notified via email of their placement by June 9, 2011.

Requesters receiving standby status will be updated via email a few days before the lecture on whether the Museum expects overflow seating to be available due to cancelations.

Duplicate requests will not be honored.  Tickets will not be distributed through the Museum Box Office for this event.

Beginning Monday, May 9 at 10:00 a.m., please go to our ticket reservation form to make your request.

Attention members of National Air and Space Society! Increase your chances of getting tickets for the Annual John H. Glenn Lecture. There will be a special drawing of tickets for members in addition to the public drawing, so you can enter both. You can join or renew online to qualify for the special drawing. The drawing for Society members will follow the same procedures as the public drawing. 

* Due to high demand for Annual John H. Glenn Lecture tickets, the Museum is using a drawing to provide more people the chance of attending.