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American Morning
Astronauts, Kids Play With Toys in Program
Aired July 18, 2002 - 08:56 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You don't have to be a rocket scientist to play with a yo-yo, but you can if you want to, if you are. On "The Moost of It" this morning, Jeanne Moos checks out an out of this world news conference in which astronauts act like kids, while trying to encourage kids to become astronauts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have ignition.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Being an astronaut is a grave occupation, but the lack of gravity tends to bring out the silly putty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show you some kinds of behavior that we might expect to see.
MOOS: Over the years, we've seen astronauts toying around with everything from jacks to boomerangs, but what goes around doesn't necessarily come around in space.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What happens when you try to jump rope in space?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has modified the way he jumps rope.
MOOS: Kids at New York's Museum of Natural History and Houston's Museum of Natural Science took turns questioning the astronauts in the International Space Station live via satellite.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I was kind of nervous.
MOOS: It is part of the Toys in Space program. The kids play with various toys on earth, while the astronauts play with the same toys 250 miles up. It's not easy getting the ball in the cup without gravity to keep it there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So no, it doesn't always stick. We even put a little tape on one side.
DR. NEIL TYSON, DIRECTOR, HAYDEN PLANETARIUM: I can't do this in any gravity.
MOOS: But astrophysicist Dr. Neil Tyson can walk the dog with a yo-yo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to understand that none of us can walk the dog on earth, let alone here in outer space.
MOOS: The kids had their own suggestions for games the astronauts should play.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Kick ball, dodge ball.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hot Wheels.
MOOS: Been there, done something like that on a shuttle mission in 1985.
(on camera): Do you guys want to be astronauts?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
MOOS: Yes, but you are stuck up there for months. Do you think that would be fun?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
MOOS: The most famous space game was played with a 6-iron, three decades ago on the moon. Alan Shepherd's first swing was a near miss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got more dirt than ball. Here we go again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That looked like a slice to me, Al.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.
MOOS: Since the moon's gravity is one sixth that of Earth's, the ball goes six times as far. The kids wanted to know if the astrophysicist could moonwalk. Commendable, though not quite as spacey as Michael Jackson's. Despite the allure of toys in space, the kids had a more down to earth question.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hey, how do they use the bathroom? That's what I wanted to know. Do they have a bathroom in space?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: And how do -- and do they empty it?
TYSON: It goes in packets and pouches and things.
MOOS: Bodily functions aside, there's something charming about seeing astronauts acting like kids in the high tech atmosphere of space travel. And if they run out of toys, there's always fruit.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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