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Astronauts John Glenn, Sally Ride Discuss Need for Science Education

Aired May 02, 2002 - 11:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, how's this for a concept car: NASA is showing off some possible replacements for the space shuttle now. Fifteen different designs are on the drawing board right now, and they all feature a reusable space plane that takes off like a jet. Booster rock would then fly back to Earth and then land at the launch site, rather than falling into the ocean, like those big, huge tanks do now. Some of the concepts even eliminate the need for pilots.

NASA plans to whittle the designs down to two by next year, and then wants the shuttle replacement up and flying by the year 2012, when the shuttle fleet that is in existence now is supposed to be retired.

Today is Space Day, one of the reasons why we look at stories like that. Now, Space Day is the annual tribute to exploration of the last frontier. The program's goal is to keep kids interested in science, math, and technology. And the theme this year is Adventure to Mars.

John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, and Sally Ride the first American woman in space. The two of them join us this mourning from the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, in Washington.

Good morning, folks. We are so glad to have you with us this morning. How are you?

JOHN GLENN, ASTRONAUT: Good morning.

SALLY RIDE, ASTRONAUT: Doing fine, thank you.

HARRIS: We have questions coming in to us from folks who decided to e-mail some questions in to you. So we are going to pose them for you as well.

But first of all, let me ask you -- well, actually, we have the first one up on the screen. This one says, "I wanted to ask both Sally Ride and John Glenn how old they were when they first knew that they wanted be astronauts?" This is coming in from Lindsay.

How about you, senator?

GLENN: When I was a kid, there was so such word as "astronaut"; nobody thought about that. I grew up back in the days of the Great Depression, and it was the days I remember, as a young boy, talking about Lindbergh's flight -- and that was just commemorated again with his grandson going across the Atlantic, just this morning, I guess -- he landed over there.

HARRIS: That's right.

GLENN: So as things went along and I went through World War II and Korea and then was a test pilot, that's when they started talking about going into space. That's the first time I really thought about it seriously.

HARRIS: How about you, Sally?

I grew up a little bit later. And John Glenn was one of my heroes when I was growing up. So I was fascinated by the space program when I was 9 years old, 10 years old, 11 years old, and knew that I wanted to do that too.

HARRIS: You know what? You have got great taste in heroes. He was one of mine as well. I grew up in Ohio. So he was one of mine.

GLENN: All right. I knew I liked you. All right, good.

HARRIS: What does Space Day mean for the both of you?

RIDE: I will go ahead and start. I think Space Day is a great source of inspiration for kids. It is really about the kids, and what we are trying to do is take advantage of kids' natural interest in space, to get them really involved and engaged in projects that will show them what great opportunities are out there for them when they grow older, if they decide to go on in math, science, and technology. And Space Day really gives them a sense of the excitement of potential careers in the space program, and it gives them an idea of the importance of studying math and science while they are growing up.

HARRIS: You know, senator -- go ahead, senator.

GLENN: That importance of math and science is a very big one too, because the studies have shown that our kids are, by the time they get out of high school, are dropping behind other kids around the world in math and science. We can't let them go on very long and still expect to be a leader among nations. So it fits in that bigger picture also of encouraging our young people into math and science; it is very important for the long-term future for this country.

HARRIS: I'm surprised you have to have a program to educate kids to something like that considering space is so much a part of our culture now; it's in almost every movie you go to -- you know, every new movie that comes out has got some sort of space angle, some space invaders, other planets we see depicted before our eyes. Always now in our culture, all over the place. Is isn't it strange that you would have to have a program to entice kids to get into that kind of thinking?

RIDE: Well, the interesting thing is we are taking advantage of some of that pervasiveness of space in the culture and taking advantage of the some of the fascination that kids naturally have with it. We are teaching them about space, but what we are really trying to teach them about is science and technology and the importance of to a future in space.

HARRIS: Let's get right to the e-mails again. We have another e-mail question here. This is coming to us from Trisha Sturgeon. "Sen. Glenn, was your second flight into space as exciting as the first one?" Was it as good the second time around I guess is the question here.

GLENN: Oh, yes, even better. The first time around, back in '62, we were just trying to figure out if we could do that thing or not. There were predictions at that time; some of the doctors thought your eyes would change shape to the point you wouldn't be able to see and have to make an emergency reentry, or you'd get nausea and vertigo so bad you couldn't function because the fluid in your inner ear would move more randomly. Things like that were of great concern back then, whether we could even do this and could you control a spacecraft.

On the second flight, in between those two dates, there were some 120-some manned flights. And the whole emphasis shifts from can we do it, to doing basic research. And that's the reason we go into space: We don't go up just to let astronauts go up, look around, and enjoy themselves; it is to do the basic research on pharmaceuticals and medicines and materials. And the second time around, we had 83 different research projects on that flight.

Of course, I was particularly interested in the half dozen that they had on me personally, comparing my functions with those of the younger astronauts. So we maybe get a handle on some of the difficulties of aging, like osteoporosis, protein turnover in the muscles, the body's immune system changes. Things like that were the emphasis on the second flight.

HARRIS: You were the world's most so sophisticated and perhaps most esteemed guinea pig for awhile on that trip.

GLENN: "Guinea pig" is right. That's correct.

HARRIS: With that in mind, let me ask you one final question if I can -- and Sally, you can chip in on this one if you will. This is about the physiological changes that happen to you in space. Daryn Kagan, my partner, was wondering earlier if have you wrinkles when you're in space. She was been focussing on wrinkles this mourning with plastic surgery. What happens to the wrinkles when you go in space?

RIDE: Sounds like a good reason go back and check, I think. I am going to try to follow in Sen. Glenn's footsteps and give NASA a call in about 20 or 25 years, and maybe I'll do exactly that research project.

GLENN: I don't look at them as wrinkles; they are not wrinkle, they are experience lines, and I am not going to give up one of them.

HARRIS: This has been a great experience. Thank you very much, Sen. John Glenn and Sally Ride -- you two turned out to be just as great as I thought you were going to be. Appreciate your time today, and happy Space Day to you.

GLENN: Thank you.

RIDE: Thanks.

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