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CNN Live Today

Interview With John Glenn

Aired May 01, 2003 - 10:50   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: Investigators have made a surprising discovery in the wreckage of the shuttle Columbia. NASA says that hundreds of worms from a science experiment that was aboard the doomed craft were found, and they were alive. The worms are about the size of a tip of a pencil. They were part of an experiment. Incredible.
Well, it may not be circled on your calendar, but this is also Space Day, in addition to being May Day. Space Day is the annual tribute to space exploration that's geared towards celebrating the future of flight by captivating its guardian, the nation's youth.

And who better to inspire the next generation than space pioneer John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, and the oldest astronaut to return to space. He is the co-chair of Space Day, and he joins us this morning. Good to see you, senator. How are you?

JOHN GLENN, FORMER ASTRONAUT: Thank you. Glad to be with you this morning. Thank you.

HARRIS: Glad to have you back with us. You've got to be awfully proud of this one result of a survey I saw that was conducted I think by "USA Today" that said that students who in a poll were asked about the biggest heroes, aerospace heroes. They mentioned the Wright brothers, and then you. It's got to be good to be alive to hear them say that. The Wright brothers can't say that.

GLENN: That may stretch things a little bit here, but I think the kids may have seen me on Space Day in previous years, and we have worked with them through the years on putting out material to schools through NASA and things like that. So my name may be familiar with them for that reason.

HARRIS: Let me ask you about something -- the Columbia disaster. We're still trying to deal with that and get over it and get to the bottom of it. With that happening only about a matter of three months or so ago, does that cast a pall at all over Space Day, and with what you're trying to accomplish with Space Day?

GLENN: Well, a little, of course. We had a tribute to the people who gave their lives on Columbia. We had a tribute to them this morning in the opening ceremonies here, but the main thrust of the day is to try and inspire our kids with math and science interest, and it does them good whether they go into space or whatever they go into, but these kids are really fired up on it.

The ones that came in today, that are here going around through the museum here, are people who -- the young people and their teachers who have won awards back in their school, and they are brought in here after a competition and given awards here, and so some of their science projects are really outstanding here. The kids in fourth and fifth grade, levels like that, are just doing outstanding work, and it just shows -- if you inspire them with a little bit of math and science with a good teacher, what can happen. We have a great future in science if these kids are any indicator.

HARRIS: You know, I read this morning as well that some of the students were invited to put together their own designs for a space vehicle of some kind. Did you see any of their designs?

GLENN: Yes, I have. The space vehicle and then airborne vehicles also, and then vehicles that would be powered by external power of some kind, a renewable source of energy, which means solar, of course. And so they have projects in all three different areas, and they're outstanding. Kids have done a lot of great thinking, and they've presented themselves well, and I had one group from Worthington, Ohio, explaining theirs to me. They did an outstanding job. They all knew exactly what it was all about. It's great for the kids to be interested in this. Looks well for the future.

HARRIS: How about the breakdown of the kids that you've been seeing coming through there and that you've been talking to, boys versus girls? Do you see a big difference there?

GLENN: No, I think it's pretty well split. I think, when we had them all at the opening ceremony this morning, I think there were -- I didn't -- I haven't seen an actual count, but I think there were just about an even split between boys and girls that were there this morning.

HARRIS: What surprises me is to see that, according to this poll again, 81 percent of the students say that, even though this Columbia disaster is still in the backs of our minds, 81 percent of the kids say they still want to go out and fly themselves, or they still want to explore space.

GLENN: Well, they do, and that's good. You know -- let me comment on that, because you know, whatever we do -- curiosity and being willing to push back the frontiers of the unknown is something that we do in laboratories here, in medical laboratories. We do it in space. We have done it geographically in the past, with things like Lewis and Clark and other explorations, and occasionally when we push back those frontiers, something happens that we have a fatality, and people sacrifice -- sacrifice their lives, and obviously we try and cut that to a minimum, but I don't think that's going to stop space exploration, because it's a value -- great value to people right here on earth, with the things that we learn. And so we'll push ahead, and, really, the greatest memorial to those people that gave their lives is to push ahead with what they believed in, and the research that they were doing.

HARRIS: And they all should be honored for doing so as well. Senator John Glenn, we sure do appreciate your time here this morning. Take care, and good luck to you down the road.

GLENN: Thank you much, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 1, 2003 - 10:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Investigators have made a surprising discovery in the wreckage of the shuttle Columbia. NASA says that hundreds of worms from a science experiment that was aboard the doomed craft were found, and they were alive. The worms are about the size of a tip of a pencil. They were part of an experiment. Incredible.
Well, it may not be circled on your calendar, but this is also Space Day, in addition to being May Day. Space Day is the annual tribute to space exploration that's geared towards celebrating the future of flight by captivating its guardian, the nation's youth.

And who better to inspire the next generation than space pioneer John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, and the oldest astronaut to return to space. He is the co-chair of Space Day, and he joins us this morning. Good to see you, senator. How are you?

JOHN GLENN, FORMER ASTRONAUT: Thank you. Glad to be with you this morning. Thank you.

HARRIS: Glad to have you back with us. You've got to be awfully proud of this one result of a survey I saw that was conducted I think by "USA Today" that said that students who in a poll were asked about the biggest heroes, aerospace heroes. They mentioned the Wright brothers, and then you. It's got to be good to be alive to hear them say that. The Wright brothers can't say that.

GLENN: That may stretch things a little bit here, but I think the kids may have seen me on Space Day in previous years, and we have worked with them through the years on putting out material to schools through NASA and things like that. So my name may be familiar with them for that reason.

HARRIS: Let me ask you about something -- the Columbia disaster. We're still trying to deal with that and get over it and get to the bottom of it. With that happening only about a matter of three months or so ago, does that cast a pall at all over Space Day, and with what you're trying to accomplish with Space Day?

GLENN: Well, a little, of course. We had a tribute to the people who gave their lives on Columbia. We had a tribute to them this morning in the opening ceremonies here, but the main thrust of the day is to try and inspire our kids with math and science interest, and it does them good whether they go into space or whatever they go into, but these kids are really fired up on it.

The ones that came in today, that are here going around through the museum here, are people who -- the young people and their teachers who have won awards back in their school, and they are brought in here after a competition and given awards here, and so some of their science projects are really outstanding here. The kids in fourth and fifth grade, levels like that, are just doing outstanding work, and it just shows -- if you inspire them with a little bit of math and science with a good teacher, what can happen. We have a great future in science if these kids are any indicator.

HARRIS: You know, I read this morning as well that some of the students were invited to put together their own designs for a space vehicle of some kind. Did you see any of their designs?

GLENN: Yes, I have. The space vehicle and then airborne vehicles also, and then vehicles that would be powered by external power of some kind, a renewable source of energy, which means solar, of course. And so they have projects in all three different areas, and they're outstanding. Kids have done a lot of great thinking, and they've presented themselves well, and I had one group from Worthington, Ohio, explaining theirs to me. They did an outstanding job. They all knew exactly what it was all about. It's great for the kids to be interested in this. Looks well for the future.

HARRIS: How about the breakdown of the kids that you've been seeing coming through there and that you've been talking to, boys versus girls? Do you see a big difference there?

GLENN: No, I think it's pretty well split. I think, when we had them all at the opening ceremony this morning, I think there were -- I didn't -- I haven't seen an actual count, but I think there were just about an even split between boys and girls that were there this morning.

HARRIS: What surprises me is to see that, according to this poll again, 81 percent of the students say that, even though this Columbia disaster is still in the backs of our minds, 81 percent of the kids say they still want to go out and fly themselves, or they still want to explore space.

GLENN: Well, they do, and that's good. You know -- let me comment on that, because you know, whatever we do -- curiosity and being willing to push back the frontiers of the unknown is something that we do in laboratories here, in medical laboratories. We do it in space. We have done it geographically in the past, with things like Lewis and Clark and other explorations, and occasionally when we push back those frontiers, something happens that we have a fatality, and people sacrifice -- sacrifice their lives, and obviously we try and cut that to a minimum, but I don't think that's going to stop space exploration, because it's a value -- great value to people right here on earth, with the things that we learn. And so we'll push ahead, and, really, the greatest memorial to those people that gave their lives is to push ahead with what they believed in, and the research that they were doing.

HARRIS: And they all should be honored for doing so as well. Senator John Glenn, we sure do appreciate your time here this morning. Take care, and good luck to you down the road.

GLENN: Thank you much, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com