At 95, Sen. Thurmond Ready to Spacesuit Up

WASHINGTON — Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) 95, says he is far more qualified for scientific experiments on the aging process than the whippersnapper already promised a seat aboard space shuttle Discovery for Thursday’s liftoff, Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), 77.

“While I think it is wonderful that Sen. Glenn will have the opportunity to visit space again, I always believed that if NASA really wanted to study the effects of space travel on an older American, they should have called me,” Thurmond said in a statement that his press secretary described as “serious but tongue-in-cheek.”