Big Bird was asked to go on doomed Challenger flight, Caroll Spinney says

Big Bird, one of the most famous pop culture icons around the world, might have gone into space. However, the bird was just too big to fit in a space shuttle.

Caroll Spinney, who has been playing Big Bird on Sesame Street for 45 years, is finally getting a moment in the spotlight with a documentary called I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story. While promoting the film this week, he teased a few secrets including a rather spooky twist to his almost-space flight.

NASA had actually asked Spinney in the early ‘80s about sending Big Bird to space as a way to get children interested in space again. However, the eight-foot tall Big Bird costume could not fit in the shuttle.

“Because the children of America were very excited over the space shuttle … they thought if Big Bird was up there, children would watch the space shuttle more,” Spinney told 1010 WINS.

Instead, NASA picked teacher Christa McAuliffe to go to space on the Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986. McAuliffe and everyone else onboard died when the shuttle crashed after takeoff.

Spinney told the Today Show that he watched the crash on the Sesame Street set. “It made my scalp crawl to think I was supposed to be on that,” he said.

Spinney also plays Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, even though the characters are far different - both in height and personality. He also doesn’t have any plans to retire and wants to reach 50 years in the Big Bird costume.

I Am Big Bird opens at New York’s IFC Center this week and will be screened aroudn the country starting on May 15.

image courtesy of B. Ach/INFphoto.com

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.