Speaker 1: Today we welcome one of America's space heroes, Senator and
Speaker 1: astronaut John Glenn, to discuss the wonders of Space Day.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the program, Senator.
Speaker 2: Glennay, thank you much, glad to be with you today.
Speaker 1: Well, it's a privilege in a very high honor today.
Speaker 2: Don't have to I apologize in the start my voice
Speaker 2: sounds like Kermit the Frog today. I think we got
Speaker 2: too much pollen here in Washington at the moment.
Speaker 1: Well, I think you're a busy man today, and we
Speaker 1: appreciate again your time spent on this wonderful subject. Senator,
Speaker 1: if I may start off the program today, what in
Speaker 1: your mind is the significance of Space Day.
Speaker 2: Well, the main thing is too you know, the kids
Speaker 2: have all grown up these days with star trek and
Speaker 2: interest in space, and they've never known a time when
Speaker 2: space wasn't there, and a lot of them are interested
Speaker 2: in this. And one of the things that we really need,
Speaker 2: of course, is a lot of emphasis on math and
Speaker 2: science these days. We've been in effect in some respects,
Speaker 2: we're getting behind the rest of the world in our
Speaker 2: elementary and high schools in math and science, and we
Speaker 2: need to pep that up. Or it doesn't look good
Speaker 2: for the United States for the long term future. And
Speaker 2: so this is a way of creating some interest here.
Speaker 2: And what Space Day does as a focal point is
Speaker 2: bring a lot of kids in with the projects they've
Speaker 2: had in schools and their teachers in areas of space,
Speaker 2: in areas of space travel or travel within our own atmosphere,
Speaker 2: or also using other sources of power to sustain flight.
Speaker 2: And they've had projects in those three areas this year,
Speaker 2: and the kids came in and received their awards and
Speaker 2: recognition here today. So it's a way of taking this
Speaker 2: day and focusing on math and science and space and
Speaker 2: creating what I think is a good environment for these
Speaker 2: kids for the future.
Speaker 1: Well, that's awesome encouragement, Senator, And continuing on with that theme,
Speaker 1: I would like to ask you this, what can parents
Speaker 1: and children do to actually get involved together in this
Speaker 1: wonderful event called Space Day.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the main thing is to discuss it
Speaker 2: with your kids. If you're a parent, talk to your
Speaker 2: kids about it and let them know that you're interested
Speaker 2: in You're interested in their knowledge of math and science.
Speaker 2: That's going to be a big factor in the future.
Speaker 2: You know, much of the the every bit of progress
Speaker 2: that's been made since the since human race has been around,
Speaker 2: has been made because somebody was curious about how to
Speaker 2: do things differently, or how can we learn something new
Speaker 2: that will alterer the future. And if we can encourage
Speaker 2: our kids to be that, to have that same kind
Speaker 2: of curiosity that the Wright brothers had, or that the
Speaker 2: astronauts sort of look at now with all the research
Speaker 2: they're doing, or the the focal point of some of
Speaker 2: that now, then that's good for the kids for the future.
Speaker 2: And the more they can be inquisitive, curious people as
Speaker 2: they grow up, the better off we are.
Speaker 1: Senator, what areas of the educational corriculum do you feel
Speaker 1: as important that is for students to concentrate on if
Speaker 1: they'd like to become scientists and astronauts.
Speaker 2: Well, obviously, the math is at the base of all
Speaker 2: most science, and not all of it, of course, or
Speaker 2: theories come out, and you don't need a math to
Speaker 2: be knowledgeable in science, but to really advance science and
Speaker 2: really be a researcher, you need a good bay math.
Speaker 2: And we got to get away from this old idea
Speaker 2: too that girls can't learn math. Just as an example,
Speaker 2: I get a big kick out of that one, because
Speaker 2: some of the sharpest mathematicians I've known were women, and
Speaker 2: too many of the girls want to turn off when
Speaker 2: it comes to science, and yet they make some of
Speaker 2: the best scientists if they get the training.
Speaker 1: I would agree with you, shifting gears. As we move
Speaker 1: to the future of the American Space Program and the
Speaker 1: International Space Program, what would you say as far as
Speaker 1: a manned mission to the planet Mars. First of all,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you would love to be a part of that.
Speaker 1: But when do you feel simply we as mankind may
Speaker 1: be actually landing on the surface of Mars.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, this may surprise you a little because
Speaker 2: I don't think of Mars landing is in the offing
Speaker 2: for some time. We have a lot yet to learn
Speaker 2: before we go to Mars. Right now, with the current technology,
Speaker 2: we could go to Mars, but it would be a
Speaker 2: trip of about eight to eight and a half months,
Speaker 2: probably one way, same time coming back. It's a long
Speaker 2: ways out there, and what time you spend out there
Speaker 2: two or three months or four months, it means that
Speaker 2: you're dedicating about it two year, taking about a two
Speaker 2: year time period to make the whole trip or close
Speaker 2: to it now we don't have that kind of experience
Speaker 2: in space yet, in neither the systems in space to
Speaker 2: last that long, are the supplies to take along that
Speaker 2: would last for a two year period, nor the just
Speaker 2: the experience with the human body in space for that
Speaker 2: lengthy period of time, and we need to do more
Speaker 2: of that. That brings back to the important before we
Speaker 2: can go to Mars. I think we need to get
Speaker 2: some of that kind of experience on the International Space Station,
Speaker 2: and it brings up the importance and of the work
Speaker 2: that Admiral Gaman is doing now trying to get the
Speaker 2: Space Shuttle going again, because that's how we then take
Speaker 2: up the last parts of constructive construction material to complete
Speaker 2: the space station and then get on with the research
Speaker 2: on that to continue. Not just limited to the two
Speaker 2: week time period that is possible on the Shuttle, but
Speaker 2: now we can do research on continuing basis over a
Speaker 2: longer period of time, and that's where we really start
Speaker 2: learning much more and get the kind of ex experience
Speaker 2: that will enable us in some day later to go
Speaker 2: to Mars.
Speaker 1: I think Senator doctor Sky of course covers the realms
Speaker 1: of astronomy, space, aviation, and weather as a NASA JPL
Speaker 1: Ambassador for Education, and I'm proud of that title, but
Speaker 1: certainly a man of your stature and experience, many questions
Speaker 1: come up in this particular question. Take us back to
Speaker 1: February twentieth, nineteen sixty two, as you became, of course,
Speaker 1: the first American to successfully orbit the Earth. In return,
Speaker 1: tell us briefly what was that experience like, Because on
Speaker 1: this program, I've also had the honor of speaking with
Speaker 1: Wally Schira, one of your early i'm sure astronaut partners,
Speaker 1: as one of the original Mercury seven astronauts. Tell us
Speaker 1: your experience on that date as you were to be
Speaker 1: launched into space and that whole historical event.
Speaker 2: Well, back in those days, you know, we hadn't orbited yet.
Speaker 2: I did the first orbital flight for this country, and
Speaker 2: so there were lots of things we did not know,
Speaker 2: and some, for instance, some of the doctors at that time, well,
Speaker 2: we didn't know what would happen to the human body
Speaker 2: in space, what the reactions would be. And there were
Speaker 2: some doctors at that time addicted that your eyes, for instance,
Speaker 2: would change shape when you're in space for several hours,
Speaker 2: your eyes would no longer need to be supported by
Speaker 2: the structure under the eye, and your eyes are sort
Speaker 2: of malleable, flexible material, and your eyes might change shape
Speaker 2: and your vision would change. And so I actually had
Speaker 2: a little vision chart on the top of the instrument
Speaker 2: panel I was to read every twenty minutes during flight,
Speaker 2: and if my vision was going bad, we even had
Speaker 2: emergency procedure of re entry to get back in. Now
Speaker 2: that turned out to be a non problem, and eyes
Speaker 2: did not change in shape in space. Another one was
Speaker 2: they were afraid they thought that maybe some of the
Speaker 2: fluid in the inner ear, when it might more randomly
Speaker 2: move about in zero G than it does here on
Speaker 2: Earth in a one G environment, that that might cause
Speaker 2: nausea and vertigo to the point where you wouldn't be
Speaker 2: able to function. And so things like that were the
Speaker 2: things that we were trying to determine back in those days.
Speaker 2: Now what's happened through the years. Of course, before I
Speaker 2: went up a second time in nineteen ninety eight, we'd
Speaker 2: had one hundred and thirty some manned flights, and the
Speaker 2: emphasis of the whole program it shifted not to just
Speaker 2: whether we could do it or not, but it shifted
Speaker 2: to research, basic fundamental research up there, and we had
Speaker 2: on the flight in ninety eight, we had eighty three
Speaker 2: different research projects on that one flight, and on Columbia
Speaker 2: it had ninety research areas on that particular flight. So
Speaker 2: the whole emphasis of the program has shifted, and of
Speaker 2: course we had a lot more experience, and so we
Speaker 2: knew a lot more about launching and effects of the
Speaker 2: human body and that the purpose so has changed from
Speaker 2: just the question of whether we can do this or not.
Speaker 2: The emphasis now is on basic fundamental research that benefits
Speaker 2: Let me emphasize this, that benefits everybody right here on Earth.
Speaker 2: It's not just to make new systems for going deeper
Speaker 2: into space. We do experiments with biology and plants grow
Speaker 2: plant growth that's different up there, and metallurgical studies alloys
Speaker 2: left to melt and harden in space come out with
Speaker 2: a different molecular alignment and different potential uses than anything
Speaker 2: we can do here on Earth. And cancer studies and
Speaker 2: just a whole host of things that are a benefit
Speaker 2: here on Earth. And that's what I like to stress
Speaker 2: about the importance of this research. It's for benefit of
Speaker 2: everybody right here.
Speaker 1: Senator. A final comment or so, as we close this
Speaker 1: rather short interview, but we certainly appreciate your time again
Speaker 1: talking to us about the wonders and values of space
Speaker 1: day in this international celebration to the sky. You've always
Speaker 1: been a hero of mine. As a young boy growing
Speaker 1: up in the early nineteen sixties, I remember vividly reading
Speaker 1: everything I could about your missions to space. So briefly,
Speaker 1: if you can tell us who have the people that
Speaker 1: you looked at in the world, Who would you consider
Speaker 1: to be a hero or two of yours when you
Speaker 1: were growing up to go to space?
Speaker 2: Oh, you know, no one person. I never had any one.
Speaker 2: There were different traits I admired in different people, I guess,
Speaker 2: and I still feel that way today. Back in those days,
Speaker 2: I looked at Lindbergh and I thought, Gee, he really
Speaker 2: stuck to this, and I thought that was great. I
Speaker 2: hoped that I could fly sometime. I didn't. We didn't
Speaker 2: have much money when I was a kid, and I
Speaker 2: didn't know that I'd ever be able to fly myself.
Speaker 2: But that was able to later on. You look at
Speaker 2: people of the past, of Lincoln and people like that,
Speaker 2: who for a particular reason you admired very much. And
Speaker 2: then I had a person that sort of altered my
Speaker 2: life was one of my high school teachers who wasn't
Speaker 2: in the science area. As a matter of fact, he
Speaker 2: used to teach a course called Civics, which was a
Speaker 2: study of government in the politics, and he just made
Speaker 2: it come alive. He was such a great teacher and
Speaker 2: I used to look forward to his classes. Now that
Speaker 2: came my interest in government and politics that I got
Speaker 2: into later in life. And so there were different people
Speaker 2: have different characteristics or affected us differently at different times
Speaker 2: in my life. I admire those people. I can think
Speaker 2: of different teachers and my dad of course, and people
Speaker 2: like that whom I admired for different reasons. So I've
Speaker 2: never had any one person as a role model. I
Speaker 2: said that I want to grow up and be just
Speaker 2: like X, whoever that person might be.
Speaker 1: So do I do some volunteer work as many people
Speaker 1: do around the country with the Boy Scouts of America.
Speaker 1: And if I'm correct, you yourself come from the very interesting,
Speaker 1: you know, hall of fame with the Boy Scouts. Tell
Speaker 1: us briefly a little story about the Scouting and its
Speaker 1: value here in America.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I like the Scouting movement, like it
Speaker 2: very much. And one reason I like it is that.
Speaker 2: I think it puts responsibility where it should be. You
Speaker 2: know that Scout oath. Incidentally, this is a mistake that
Speaker 2: I was a Scout. I was never a Scout.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: I think I was.
Speaker 1: I always thought you were.
Speaker 2: No. My son was an Eagle Scout later on. But
Speaker 2: when I was growing up, we didn't have a Scout
Speaker 2: troop in New Concord, a little town where I grew up,
Speaker 2: and we wanted something like that, and so a bunch
Speaker 2: of kids we got the other ourselves and formed a
Speaker 2: little group. But we called the Ohio Rangers, and we
Speaker 2: used the Boy Scout Handbook, and we passed all the
Speaker 2: same merit badge tests and all that and went through
Speaker 2: all the same kinds of things. But we were not
Speaker 2: officially members of the Scouts. So we had an organization
Speaker 2: that we had formed as ourselves that did the same thing.
Speaker 2: But one of the reasons I admire the Scouts so much,
Speaker 2: and I've supported Scouting very much, and some years ago
Speaker 2: the Scouting people awarded me the Silver Buffalo, which I
Speaker 2: think is the highest honor they can give in Scouting,
Speaker 2: because of my support for some of their activities. I'm
Speaker 2: very proud of that. But what I like about Scouting
Speaker 2: is it puts the responsibility where it should be. You
Speaker 2: know that Scout oath is on my honor, I will
Speaker 2: do my best to do my duty, and so on
Speaker 2: on through the whole thing. Everything is not we and
Speaker 2: you and the group and so on. It's my responsibility
Speaker 2: to take responsible for my own activities and Scouting teas
Speaker 2: in the Scout oath, and I think is one of
Speaker 2: the most productive things a kid can learn that they
Speaker 2: can't put it off to somebody else. They're on their
Speaker 2: own and they'll take responsibility for that. And Scouting also
Speaker 2: it puts the kids. You know, you don't have to
Speaker 2: be a nerd, a bookworm, you don't have to be
Speaker 2: an athlete, you can be anything. But you're in there
Speaker 2: with a bunch of kids who are all these different things,
Speaker 2: and yet you're having to work together on merit badges
Speaker 2: and projects. Where you work together no matter what your
Speaker 2: background is and what your current interests are, it broadens
Speaker 2: your interest It's like you're doing research on yourself to
Speaker 2: find out what your own interests are. So I've always
Speaker 2: supported the Scouts because of that. I think it's a
Speaker 2: good program.
Speaker 1: Senator Finally, any other further closing comments on the encouragement
Speaker 1: for students regarding Space Day, well.
Speaker 2: No, I think the lesson we try and get across
Speaker 2: in Space Day, if you can call it a lesson,
Speaker 2: is that we try and pique the kid's interest or
Speaker 2: use Space Day as a day of emphasis, letting the
Speaker 2: kids know how important it is that they keep their
Speaker 2: interests in math and science, because that's going to do
Speaker 2: much of what advancing this country is going to be
Speaker 2: into the future, and in fact, what the world's going
Speaker 2: to be in the future. As people try and keep
Speaker 2: that same curiosity that some of the people we admire
Speaker 2: in the past, like the Right Brothers and people like
Speaker 2: that that we're celebrating their flight this year, their one
Speaker 2: hundredth anniversary of their flight. People like that. We try
Speaker 2: and keep the interests of the curiosity of the kids
Speaker 2: now to that same high degree so that these people
Speaker 2: will make their own contributions to our society into the
Speaker 2: world in their own time. And some of these kids
Speaker 2: today that come in with projects that they've been given
Speaker 2: awards for that we gave them awards for this morning.
Speaker 2: It's amazing. These kids are just doing stuff that is outstanding.
Speaker 2: And if we can just keep that kind of curiosity going.
Speaker 2: That's a great benefit to this country into the world.
Speaker 1: No, Senator, I want to thank you very much for
Speaker 1: making a personal dream of mind come true and many
Speaker 1: others listening to this particular program. I salute your service
Speaker 1: to this country, sir, in both the areas as an
Speaker 1: astronaut and also as a United States senator. Thank you
Speaker 1: very much for your time.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you appreciate it. Thank you much.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. This is Steve Kats. Thank you. This
Speaker 1: is Steve Kates, Doctor Sky including another interesting edition of
Speaker 1: teen Talknetworks dot COM's The Doctor Sky Show and also
Speaker 1: heard here live on news Talk ten ten