NEWS RELEASE:
National Space Society Applauds Glenn's Selection

CONTACT: Karen Rugg, 202-543-1900

(Washington, DC) -- January 16, 1998 -- Pat Dasch, executive director for the National Space Society, issued the following statement in response to NASA's selection of Senator John Glenn as a payload specialist aboard STS-95 in October.

"We are delighted for the Senator. His evident enthusiasm for spaceflight and his confidence in the progress that the space program has made in the last 36 years are inspirations to us all.

NASA's further decision to admit Barbara Morgan to the astronaut corps for flight training indicates the space agency's readiness to prepare specialists in a variety of disciplines for spaceflight.

While this falls short of reopening the civilian space program, this move by NASA does suggest that flight opportunities will be available to people other than career astronauts in the future. NSS endorses this development."