ORONO, Maine — Former astronaut and retired Ohio Sen. John Glenn says “the time for space tourism should still be off in the future.”
Glenn was asked Tuesday during a visit to the University of Maine to comment about California millionaire Dennis Tito’s trip to the international space station in return for a reported payment of $20 million.
“Thank heaven I didn’t have to pay that,” Glenn said to laughter from the audience at the Maine Center for the Arts.
Joking aside, Glenn said he believes only researchers should go into space.
Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. In 1998, at age 77, he become the oldest space traveler in history during a flight aboard space shuttle Discovery. The Democrat retired that year from the U.S. Senate.
