I just watched John Glenn being interviewed on TV and have concluded the following: This man still could suit up and fly into space.

The former astronaut/senator argues that President Obama shouldn’t discontinue the shuttle program. Keep it flying, he says, because it’s basically going to cost the U.S. as much to use Russian space vehicles to fly men and women to the International Space Station as it would to use our own space ships.

Glenn flew twice into space, once in 1962 and again in 1998. The 36-year gap between space flights is — by far — the longest such span in U.S. or Russian space travel history. When the shuttle Discovery lifted off in 1998, the space flight communicator announced to the world that “we have liftoff of the shuttle Discovery, with six astronaut heroes — and one American legend.”

Oh, my. I get goose bumps whenever I think of that moment.

I, too, remember when my mom and I would awaken early on many mornings and wait for the Mercury and then the Gemini flights to take off from Florida. Glenn’s first flight was postponed several times before finally taking off on that measly three-orbit fling around the planet.

Today, the senator/spaceman proved once again that he has as much mental acuity as he’s ever had. He’s sharp, knowledgeable and speaks with tremendous credibility.

John Glenn’s a legend, all right. And he’s still my hero.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37817608/ns/technology_and_science-space/