For two WMCO alumni, an October 1998 trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida to witness the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery with Sen. John H. Glenn aboard was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Launching Oct. 29, 1998 at 2:19:34 p.m. EST, Glenn was a payload specialist on STS-95, spending most of his time researching the aging process in space. The mission lasted for nine days, orbiting Earth 134 times. Discovery traveled 3.6 million miles with Glenn aboard.
Sen. John H. Glenn’s Discovery profile. Credit: NASA.gov.
WMCO broadcasted the launch and aired soundbites on 90.7 FM sent back from Florida. It was the same year we rebranded the station as “The Orbit,” to pay homage to Glenn’s place in history.
Scott Sellins ’00 and Maria Rittenhouse ’00 represented WMCO and Muskingum University. During the visit they were able to rub elbows with famous journalists and politicians, all while being in the heart of the media action. Sellins recalled the emotion of being part of the event as a press member.
Scott Sellins (right) in a September 1999 Black & Magenta article.
“I would have been thrilled just to witness the launch, but covering it [for WMCO] was unlike anything I could have imagined. Being a 20-year-old college student and conducting interviews with (then) Senator Mike DeWine and Governor George Voinovich, and watching national news anchors like Tom Brokaw working just a few feet away was surreal,” said Sellins.
While Sellins and Rittenhouse were covering the launch as reporters, they were recognized for their Muskingum affiliation by other media outlets.
“In our pursuit of good stories and soundbites to send back to the station, some of the press found out we were part of the contingent from New Concord and covering events for Muskingum. In between reports back to WMCO we spent some of the time being interviewed ourselves by several television and newspaper outlets,” said Sellins.
Visitors to Cape Canaveral leave well wishes for Sen. John H. Glenn in 1998. WMCO aired the launch live on 90.7
The Discovery coverage won WMCO an Associated Press award in 1999. “I was so honored to have witnessed history in such a special way,” said Sellins.
WMCO interviewed Glenn throughout his professional years as an astronaut, politician, and businessman. The Media Production Senior Seminar class of Spring 2017 was able to honor Glenn’s life with a documentary project titled “John Glenn: An American Hero.”
The class, comprised of Andrew Dunlap ’17, Aaron Eno ’17, Marty Kurtz ’17, and Chris Morgan ’17, partnered with The John & Annie Glenn Museum to produce a new visitor welcome video for their 2017 debut 1962 visitor season. The 20:00 video is currently shown to guests at the beginning of every living history tour.
The full video includes interviews with local historians, family and friends, an Ohio astronaut, and Senior Space History Curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, plus first-hand footage of Friendship 7 and Space Shuttle Discovery spacecrafts.
Morgan said the seminar experience heightened his respect for Glenn’s impact on American history. “The best thing for me was getting to learn even more about the mission aboard Friendship 7 and everything that went into the planning and execution of that first flight. Everything I learned doing the seminar project really gave me a whole new perspective on John Glenn and his life, and really made me appreciate things like being (fairly) distantly related [to him] and sharing the same great alma mater with him even more.”
“John Glenn: An American Hero” placed fourth in the nation in the College Broadcasters, Inc. 2017 National Student Production Awards contest. Watch the trailer to the documentary.
Orbit Media’s Brenna Busby ’18 interviewed astronaut Dr. Scott E. Parazynski in 2017. Parazynski visited campus to speak as part of the inaugural John Glenn Lecture Series. Parazynski accompanied Glenn aboard Discovery as an astronaut and Glenn’s medical doctor. Glenn became the oldest man in space aboard the 1998 mission.
WMCO and Orbit Media staffers proudly honor Glenn with our name as we orbit New Concord and surrounding communities with music, news, and sports coverage. Listen to WMCO 90.7 Monday, Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m. for a special “Orbit News Desk” program honoring Glenn.
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- The Spring 2017 Media Production Senior Seminar team at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in March 2017 with Space Shuttle Discovery. Eno, Kurtz, Dunlap, Morgan, and Marshall are pictured with Public Affairs Specialist Nicholas Partridge.
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- Sen. John H. Glenn and wife Annie at the groundbreaking for The John & Annie Glenn Museum.
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- The John & Annie Glenn Museum is open May-October.
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- Wedding photograph of Annie Castor and John Glenn, 1943.
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- This undated photo made available by NASA shows astronaut John Glenn in his Mercury flight suit. Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth who later spent 24 years representing Ohio in the Senate, died Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, at the age of 95. (NASA via AP)
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- Muskingum Physical Plant workers hang an American flag and black ribbons on John Glenn Gym Dec. 9, 2016. Credit: Chris Morgan
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- A family from Crooksville leaves a sign honoring Glenn in front of his boyhood home Monday, Dec. 12. Credit: Lisa Marshall
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- The John and Annie Glenn Museum is managed by the Ohio History Connection and The Museum Association of East Muskingum.
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- The 2017 Media Production Senior Seminar documentary titled “John Glenn: An American Hero” placed 4th in CBI National Student Production Awards.
