For legendary astronaut and
former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, the video clips brought back memories of old
friends. For the rest of the nation, they provided a glimpse of NASA's glory
days.
The clips were among 100
hours of historic
space footage, newly restored in high-definition, released publicly Tuesday at a Capitol Hill ceremony to help mark
the 50th anniversary of NASA.
During the event, Glenn
called for extending the work on the International Space Station and extending
the life of the space shuttles beyond what
NASA is planning.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and
Glenn lamented the decreased funding for NASA programs -- and for science and
technology projects in general -- during the past few years.
Glenn called for continued work
on the International Space Station beyond 2015, when the nation plans to
pull the plug on its commitment.
Glenn said he also would
like to see the life of the space shuttles extended.
"The shuttles may be
old, but they're still the most complex vehicle ever put together by people,
and they're still working very well," Glenn said.
He said the few billion
dollars it would cost to extend the shuttle's life by a year or two would be
worth it to make Americans less dependent on the Russians during the gap
between the shuttles'
retirement and the first Orion flight.
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