BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The tourists who flock to the Kennedy Space Center to see "America's spaceport" have been unabashed boosters of John Glenn's return to space.
They've been snapping up souvenir photos, tins, T-shirts, even commemorative plates emblazoned with Mr. Glenn's face and the mission patch of STS-95.
At the shuttle Explorer display, people walk up to the mid-deck and say, "That's where John Glenn will sit." Then they peer inside a cramped single-seat Mercury capsule and wonder, "How do they send a man into space in a thing like this?"
A few miles away at the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, tourists have filled nine logbooks since August with messages of godspeed and good luck for Mr. Glenn.
The messages come from all over the world: Australia, England, Ireland and Germany. Some are written in Japanese, some in Arabic.
"On behalf of Cincinnati, welcome home," wrote David Drunkhouse and his family.
"When I'm 77 years old, I wouldn't mind flying to the moon. Have a safe return," wrote Pat Hacker of Cincinnati.
"We watched you the first time -- good luck this time," J & W Row, England.
"John Glenn, wish you well. Don't get sucked into space," Drew Denstedt, Michigan.
"You and all the other great astronauts have heralded us into a new world with immense possibilities," Francie Horn-Dahly, Orlando, Fla.
"You probably can't dunk a basketball and you didn't hit 70 home runs in one season," wrote Karen (no last name) of Titusville, Fla., "but you are a TRUE AMERICAN HERO."
