our colleagues from nasa and all our guests here today thank you for your support at the smitonian. ues of freedom and exploration and discovery. i would like to congratulate the staff of the national air and space museum. i do not know about you, but i will never forget those two big birds touching each other like that. wasn't that extraordinary? i am particularly pleased to be here today not only in my capacity as chair of the board of regents but also as the former chief scientist for nasa. and as president of perdue university where one of our goals is launching tomorrow's leaders. at perdue, we have had 22 of our alumni go into space iluding the first and last astronauts on the moon. following senator glenn's remarks, hundreds ofngineers and scientistsho have helped ensure that the shuttle program makes a tremendous impact for us all. since before senator glenn first orbited the earth in 1962, at nasa and the smithsonian have recognized the need to preserve and make it accessible artifacts that can best tell the story of american in space. as a result, millions of americans annu