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N.J. Native Astronaut Returns To Earth

(CBS) After spending three months in space, astronaut and New Jersey native Garrett Reisman is home. He blasted off on the Shuttle Discovery, returned on the Shuttle Endeavour, and spent 95 days at the International Space Station.

Parsippany's own, Reisman carried out a delicate space walk, helped assemble a Japanese lab, and loved every second of it. "It becomes normal, that if I want to go to the other side of the room, I push off the wall, and fly like Superman. Instead of being something that's just wacky, it's becomes 'this is how I live'."

Reisman is celebrating NASA's 50th birthday and the Space Station's 10th. To those who see NASA as just an expensive adventure, his answer is: "For every tax dollar, we get less than a half a penny. And for that half a penny, we get rovers on Mars, the Space Station, and all the scientific discovery that comes along with that."

Tuesday night, Reisman gets to throw out the first pitch at Yankee stadium, as they take on the Red Sox. He got some practice in the Spring while in space, but this time, he's got the jitters.

"Throwing the first pitch in space was actually kind of easy, because the good thing about weightlessness is you can't bounce it. Tomorrow, I'm not going to have that safety net. I'm going to have to throw it for real, and I'm a little terrified," he said.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)


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