Pioneering female astronaut struggles to keep COSI site open

Sullivan's most famous feat was the 1984 spacewalk.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Time has not dulled the adventurous spirit of Kathryn Sullivan, the former astronaut who runs the struggling COSI interactive science museum.
Sullivan, who 20 years ago Monday became the first American woman to make a spacewalk, leaves her office on her most difficult days to watch kids play in her museum's exhibits, which had to be reduced by 20 percent recently because of a failed tax request.
"In about five minutes, you'll see those sparks flying, those light bulbs going off, and you'll see the amazing things that it is that we get to offer families and kids every day," she said.
"It just kind of completely restores your soul."
Has right stuff
People who know Sullivan say the woman who is helping NASA redesign its spacesuit and was chosen by four presidents for national science positions is the right person to lead the museum out of its slump.
"I'm sure she can do that," said Dave Leestma, who partnered with Sullivan on the 1984 spacewalk. "She's very motivated and is a very, very confident person."
Sullivan, 53, logged over 532 hours in space during her three missions, but her most famous feat was her 1984 spacewalk. She floated outside the shuttle for seven hours tethered with a pliable metal line while demonstrating that a satellite can be refueled in space.
"Kathy's terrific, a hard worker," said Leestma, manager of the exploration programs office at the Johnson Space Center. "She was as ready as anyone could be to do that spacewalk. She was in great shape and did everything that was expected of her and then some."
Ceremonies
Leestma and other former astronauts will participate in ceremonies this weekend honoring Sullivan and the spacewalk anniversary.
Leestma, Sally Ride and John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and a former U.S. senator from Ohio, are scheduled to speak at COSI events. Sullivan and Ride, the first American woman in space, will be recognized before the Ohio State-Wisconsin football game today at Ohio Stadium.
The big weekend couldn't come at a better time for Sullivan or COSI, which stands for the Center of Science and Industry.
Sullivan was forced to lay off almost 70 people and close COSI two days a week after Franklin County voters rejected a levy that would have generated about $12 million a year and provided free admission to county residents.
The science center also closed exhibits on computers, the solar system and adventure, hoping to use the space to entice a tenant to share the facility. The museum is negotiating with WOSU, Ohio State University's public broadcasting station, to relocate to the vacant area.
COSI reopened Oct. 2 after spending three weeks moving exhibits and adapting to the changes. More than 900 people showed up on the first day, which COSI officials said was similar to past years.
Critics of the levy said it was too high and questioned why COSI needed so much tax support.
'A tough blow'
Sullivan said the levy's defeat was "a real tough blow."
"It's very hard to look at something that you've been trying to build with the sense of heading somewhere and just the disappointment of having to step back and regroup, shift things around and craft an alternative plan," she said.
A 2004 inductee into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Sullivan has helped NASA raise money for the families of the Columbia astronauts who died when the space shuttle came apart on re-entry in 2003.
She has ran COSI since 1996.
"She's done quite well and I can say that honestly," said Carl Kohrt, the chairman of COSI's board of trustees. "It has not been easy for anyone, and this is something she has taken quite personally in the sense that any good leader feels accountable for the outcome."
Sullivan said she doesn't remember much about her historic journey in 1984. She said she was too wrapped up in the work to think about the walk's significance.
"It's a pretty long day just being meticulous getting things done, and then I remember first glimpses looking at the Earth without any window frame around," she said. "It was very cool."