"It was pretty awesome," the Glenn groupie told the Track. "It was so bright it hurt our eyes, the ground shook and birds were taking off."
Perry, Steven Tyler and the rest of the band were invited down to the launch by Discovery crew member Steve Lindsey when they were at the "Armageddon" blast-off bash last summer. Joe said the biggest thrill of the trip was speaking to Glenn.
"We went to the pre-launch viewing and when we got out of the bus, John Glenn was standing right in front of us about 10 feet away," said the rocker. "I wished him good luck and told him what a great thing I thought he was doing."
The Boston Bad Boys even tossed a few Aerosmith hats to the crew. During the launch, Perry and his family hung with the crew's families and other VIPS like Sen. Ted Kennedy and actress Lauren Hutton in a holding area 2 1/2 miles away.
"We all counted down from 10 seconds to the blast-off and when the thing takes off, everyone's cheering and some people have their fingers crossed," he said. "It was incredible to see this part of history."
Sounds positively Aero-dynamic!
And speaking of Aerosmith, the band made a $10,000 donation yesterday to the Massachusetts General Hospital's Burn Program on behalf of their drummer, Joey Kramer, who was treated there last month after he was hurt in a gasoline fire in Scituate. The Bad Boys are such nice boys!