COLUMBUS – Two new Ohio landmarks honor the state’s most famous space explorers.
The John and Annie Glenn Museum will be dedicated as a site on the National Register of Historic Places this month in the late astronaut’s hometown of New Concord.
The Glenns’ daughter, Lyn, will help dedicate the property at Glenn’s boyhood home will be dedicated in a May 19 ceremony in the Muskingum County village.
The former U.S. senator was born in Cambridge and moved to New Concord with his family in 1923. He was the first American to orbit the Earth and served 24 years as a Democrat in the Senate.
The museum has also been designated an Ohio historic site and is on the National Park Service’s Register of Historic Places.
Meanwhile, a new permanent exhibit focusing on space exploration and the Ohio native who was the first person to walk on the moon has opened at a Cincinnati museum.
The Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery opened May 6 in the Cincinnati Museum Center. It celebrates the legacy of Apollo 11 and its crew members. The exhibit focuses especially on Neil Armstrong, the mission’s commander and the first person to step foot on the moon.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the exhibit includes interactive elements, original artifacts and equipment, and an immersive theater. A jacket Armstrong wore during the Apollo 11 mission and a moon rock are among the many artifacts.
Officials say the gallery will expand in 2020 to include more interactive and virtual reality elements and live NASA briefings and information.