Shuttle Flights Should be Extended, Space Pioneer John Glenn Says

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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