Glenn said the decline of America's role in manned space exploration did not occur on "Charlie's watch," saying the current NASA administrator inherited the situation. While he never uttered the names of President Barack Obama or his predecessor, George W. Bush, Glenn left no doubt about whom he blamed.
He chided "the previous administration" for concocting the idea of going to the moon and Mars, while announcing the cancellation of the shuttle program in 2004.
The last shuttle flights occurred last year after the Obama administration approved two additional flights, according to NASA.
Glenn also obliquely praised the current administration for doubling the money being expended on American industry's role in designing and building spacecraft that will carry NASA's next generations of astronauts back into space.
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