2004 FLASHBACK: Astronaut John Glenn visits Little Rock's Museum of Discovery

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEVE KEESEE Astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio talks Wednesday to a group of schoolchildren at the Museum of Discovery before the opening of an exhibit called "Space and the Presidency."
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEVE KEESEE Astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio talks Wednesday to a group of schoolchildren at the Museum of Discovery before the opening of an exhibit called "Space and the Presidency."

This story was originally published Nov. 18, 2004:

Space pioneer John Glenn told a group of Arkansas children Wednesday that they should always value their sense of curiosity.

"Every bit of progress that has every been made in the history of the world is because someone like you has been curious about whether something could be done differently," Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, said during an appearance at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock.

The former U.S. senator also helped unveil an exhibit called "Space and the Presidency" and showed a video of his 1998 space shuttle mission, in which he became the oldest person to travel in space.

Glenn sent President Clinton an e-mail message from the shuttle, and Clinton responded.

"It was the first time the president ever received an e-mail from space," Glenn said during a news conference before his speech to the children. "It was certainly the first time I ever received an e-mail in space from the president."

Glenn didn't recall the content of the messages, which will be featured in an exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Center. Clinton's e-mail was one of only two he personally sent during his presidency. The other was a test e-mail.

Glenn also recalled the uneasy mood of the country when he made his historic orbit in 1962. The Soviet Union had beaten the United States as the first country to launch a manned spaceship that circled the earth.

"Their rockets were succeeding where ours were sometimes blowing up on the launch pad," Glenn said.

Americans were "not at all certain what was going to happen - whether we were going to communism or not," Glenn said.

Glenn's appearance was part of the opening-week event for the presidential center. He was also expected to speak at a museum reception Wednesday evening.

Glenn said he's troubled by President Bush's plan to focus NASA's efforts in coming decades on using the moon as a launching pad for a manned expedition to Mars.

The effort shouldn't come at the expense of basic research in space and the country's commitment to the International Space Station, Glenn said. He also criticized the approach, saying that launching a spacecraft from the moon would add unnecessary complexity to the mission.

"It's much simpler to me to do it out of earth orbit," Glenn said. He added, "I don't doubt that we'll do it. I disagree with some of the ways that we're going about it."

The 83 year-old displayed a sharp wit and looked trim and fit in a charcoal suit. While introducing Glenn, Mayor Jim Dailey joked about Glenn's youthful appearance.

"Maybe going into space has some benefits we haven't thought of," Dailey said.

The 230 children at the event were pupils from schools in grades 3 through 8 who competed in a statewide contest to design a poster based on the "Space and the Presidency" theme. The museum selected 12 winners, and each winners' class was invited.

The exhibit, which opened Wednesday and runs to June 1, 2005, features items donated by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The artifacts include a space suit worn by Joseph Kerwin during a Skylab 2 mission in 1973 and a backup flight suit made for James A. Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 flight in 1970.

Samantha Burnside, a 14-yearold pupil at Mabelvale Middle School, said she was inspired by Glenn's remarks.

"He's not saying you need to become an astronaut," Burnside said. "He's saying you need to pick what you're good at and do the best you can on it," Burnside said.

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