From Newsgroup: sci.space.news

May 2, 2011

Katherine Trinidad 
Headquarters, Washington                                         
202-358-1600 
katherine.trinidad{at}nasa.gov 

Allard Beutel 
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 
321-867-2468 
allard.beutel{at}nasa.gov 
MEDIA ADVISORY: 11-088

TWO EVENTS COMMEMORATE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF U.S. HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will commemorate the 
50th anniversary of the first U.S. manned spaceflight during two 
events this week around the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 
NASA Television will carry both events live. 

On Wednesday, May 4, at 2 p.m. EDT, the U.S. Postal Service will 
unveil two new stamps at the Rocket Garden of the Kennedy Space 
Center Visitor Complex, located on State Road 405. Journalists 
interested in covering the event should contact Andrea Farmer at 
321-449-4318 or Jillian McRae at 321-449-4273. Media need to arrive 
at least 30 minutes before the start of the ceremony. 

One stamp commemorates NASA's Project Mercury and Alan Shepard's 
historic launch on May 5, 1961 aboard the spacecraft Freedom 7. The 
second stamp honors NASA's MESSENGER, which reached Mercury in March 
to become the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. The two missions 
frame a remarkable 50-year period in which America advanced space 
exploration through more than 1,500 manned and unmanned flights. 

Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter and members of the Shepard family 
will join Bolden at the stamps' unveiling and at a 50th anniversary 
ceremony on Thursday, May 5, at 9 a.m., at the Cape Canaveral Air 
Force Station. 

To cover the event, news media representatives need to be at the Air 
Force Badging Office (Gate 1) at 6:30 a.m. for transportation to 
Complex 5/6. Mission badges for the STS-134 shuttle mission will be 
honored for this event. Reporters who do not have one must contact 
Christopher Calkins at 321-494-7732 or Auburn Davis at 321-494-6489 
to arrange for media credentials. 

The Thursday event includes a re-creation of Shepard's flight and 
recovery, as well as a tribute to his contributions as a moonwalker 
on the Apollo 14 lunar mission. KSC Director and former astronaut Bob 
Cabana and more than 200 workers from the original Mercury program, 
also will be in attendance. 

For more information about Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, 
visit: 

http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com 

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, 
visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv 

For a photo gallery of Shepard's flight and an interactive timeline of 
key NASA milestones, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/50th 

For more information about the MESSENGER mission, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/messenger 
	
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