Former Astronaut and NAC Member Jake Garn Carries Olympic Dream to Utah

An honored member of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC)
makes his Olympic debut Thursday morning as he carries the
torch of the 2002 Winter Games through Utah.

Jake Garn, former United States Senator and Payload
Specialist aboard space shuttle flight STS 51-D, will run the
last leg that will bring the torch into the Salt Lake Valley,
at the entrance of Emigration Canyon.

Garn is a member of the NAC, which provides the NASA
Administrator with counsel and advice on agency programs and
issues.

Helping to bring the Olympic Torch to Salt Lake has been a
long-standing goal for Garn, who is 69. As mayor of Salt Lake
City 30 years ago, Garn laid the groundwork for the city’s
eventually successful bid for a winter Olympic games.

Senator Garn has maintained himself in excellent physical
condition since his return from space aboard Space Shuttle
Discovery. As with all flight crewmembers, Garn receives an
annual physical examination at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in
Houston in an ongoing collection of medical data to determine
the long-term effects of space flight.

Garn was aboard Discovery in 1985 for a seven-day mission,
during which he participated in a number of medical
experiments aimed at helping to understand the impact of
weightlessness on the human body.

Additional information about Garn and the NAC is available on
the Internet at:

http://www.policy.nasa.gov/poladvisor.html

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/bios/htmlbios/garn-j.html