Cougar news staff
President Bill Clinton used his Houston visit to praise the efforts of NASA, especially the upcoming mission, which will send Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) into space again.
"You are the place where dreams are made," Clinton told a group of NASA employees Tuesday at Johnson Space Center.
Clinton specifically praised NASA director Dan Golden and the head of the JSC, George Abbey, for their commitment to keeping within their shrinking budget. Clinton said NASA's productivity has increased dramatically during Golden's tenure.
John Glenn and the astronauts who will accompany him on his return to space gave Clinton a tour of one of the life-sized mock space shuttles, showing him "every square inch" of what will be their home for two weeks. Clinton even got a chance to test the cuisine that will be standard fare on the mission.
The purpose of the October mission is to study the effects of weightlessness on older people, and 77-year-old Glenn, a former astronaut, seems a perfect candidate.
The mission, Clinton said, will be "good for the space program, good for science, good for the American people (and) good for our future.''