WHYY Presents "Space At 40"
A Day of Programming Commemorating First U.S. Space Mission

In honor of Alan Sheppard's first manned U.S. space flight, WHYY is offering up a galaxy of programming on TV12, 91FM and whyy.org. Saturday, May 5 marks the 40th year since Sheppard made his historic flight into space aboard a Mercury space capsule.

On Friday, May 4 during the 10 a.m. hour, RADIO TIMES with host Marty Moss-Coane will present a debate on whether or not space tourism is a practice the U.S. and the world ought to adopt.

WHYY'S DELAWARE TONIGHT's Friday Forum will feature a look at the local connections to the space program, including a panel discussion with Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer with the Franklin Institute; Aerospace Engineer with Aerospace Corporation in Valley Forge, PA, Mark Zaharchuck; and Stephanie Wright, Delaware's Teacher in Space.

Special reports will include Meredith Vinokur's story on ILC in Dover, which has been manufacturing space suits since the Apollo missions, and Bill Wilmore looking at Wallop's Island in Virginia where early testing of rockets was done.

WHYY-FM'S MORNING EDITION will feature reports and an interview with Marsha Ivans, who grew up in Philadelphia and has been on six space flights, at 6:33 a.m. and 8:33 a.m. The feature Science Watch will also include special content to mark this anniversary.

SPACE PROGRAMMING

On WHYY-TV at 8:00 p.m. SPACEFLIGHT: THE WINGS OF MERCURY will be broadcast. This program is a comprehensive look at the early race between America's Mercury astronauts and the Soviet Union to put the first man in space.

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