A Giant Telescope and Remembering John Glenn

Space historian John Logsdon remembers American hero John Glenn. Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye was a big fan of the Friendship 7 astronaut—less so the new Star Wars movie. Then we get an update on the Giant Magellan Telescope from Patrick McCarthy. Emily Lakdawalla explains how a Martian breeze has made the Curiosity rover’s work more challenging. John Glenn is also the focus of this week’s space trivia contest.

Related Links:

• The Planetary Fund
• The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization
• NASA Profile of John Glenn
• John Logsdon’s Author Page
• Emily’s MSL Curiosity Update
• Xtronaut: The Game of Solar System Exploration
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This week's prizes are a lovely Planetary Radio t-shirt, now available in both men’s and women’s styles. Also, a 200-point iTelescope.net astronomy account, and a Planetary Society rubber asteroid.

This week's question:

What famous baseball player was John Glenn’s wingman in the Korean War?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Tuesday, December 20th at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

What did Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan, last person to walk on the moon, say just before he re-entered the Lunar Module to return to Earth?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:

How many Soviet Venera spacecraft successfully landed on Venus? We’ll accept a fairly loose definition of success. (Within one or two.)

Answer:

Eight Venera spacecraft successfully landed on Venus, followed by two nearly identical Vega landers.