Quayle Says He’d Probably Go Up in Space--if Asked
WASHINGTON — Vice President Dan Quayle, chairman of the National Space Council, said today he would have a hard time turning down an invitation to fly on a space shuttle.
“I don’t think that the space race is over,” Quayle said in a lunch interview with reporters. “I think that we will win the eventual control of space because of our advanced and superior technology.”
Asked if he would like to fly on a space shuttle as did Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah) and Rep. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Quayle said, “I have not asked. They (NASA) haven’t asked me. But if they would ask, and I’m not asking them to ask me, (it) would be hard to decline.”
Quayle, who expressed support for a strong NASA budget and the space station Freedom, disclosed the White House will soon unveil a long-term strategy for space, and warned that space junk, especially from Soviet satellites, is cluttering orbital highways.
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