Fifty years ago, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
He circled the globe three times that day - traveling at more than 17,000 miles per hour inside a space capsule.
The trip took just 4 hours and 56 minutes.
Five decades later, Glenn reached out from a forum at Ohio State University to those now in orbit...crew members on board the International Space Station.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN GLENN, FORMER ASTRONAUT/FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT THE EARTH SAYING:
"I just was sitting here thinking a minute ago about how technology has gone ahead so rapidly in the space age. Because here we are watching high definition television here, and you guys coming through perfectly. Back in the Mercury days, we had to go over each station on the ground apart and couldn't even keep communications. Now, we have the TDRSS technical data relay satellite that you relay through, so you have constant communication around the earth. It's just amazing that we can sit here and talk to you back and forth."
Now 90, Glenn has praised the decision to keep the International Space Station in orbit until at least 2020.
Katharine Jackson, Reuters.
