Grand Turk, which hosts the deep water Carnival Cruise ship facility, recently celebrated the opening of a new exhibit pertaining to the February 21, 1962 return to earth of astronaut John Glenn.
Following the first full orbit space flight by a US astronaut, Glenn, after being picked up at sea by a US aircraft carrier, was transported to the US military installation on the TCI capital island. Glenn, now serving as a US senator from Ohio, traveled around the Earth three times in his Friendship 7 capsule, which was launched atop an Atlas rocket.
Dignitaries at the event included American astronaut Captain Winston Scott; Janet Petro, deputy director of the John F Kennedy Space Center; and Glora Israel of Carnival Cruise Lines. Also taking the microphone was Governor Gordon Wetherell, who reminded attendees that then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson also arrived in Grand Turk to escort Glenn home.
