October 5, 2007 12:59 PM PDT
"I was in elementary school during the early 1960s. Every time there was a rocket launching during the Mercury Project, my teachers would roll in a big black-and-white TV on a cart, with rabbit ears, and we would all sit and watch the launch with a grainy, snowy picture. (Reception inside the big, old school building was not great.) Those early space shots were over in half an hour--from launch to landing!
"I remember when John Glenn was the first (American) to orbit the earth, it was the first time we had to wait so long before the capsule came back to Earth. These early experiences helped fuel my interest in the space program that continues today."
--CNET News.com reader Albert O. Arnone
At left, John Glenn gives the ready sign during Mercury-Atlas 6 pre-launch training.
Photo by NASA
