New Seniors well remember when the Russians launched the first satellite, Sputnik, back in the mid-'50s. It signaled the beginning of the space age. We made some progress with manned space flights but we lagged behind the Soviets and were losing the race. It was President Kennedy's promise that the United States would land a man on the moon in the next decade that inspired us to this great achievement.
The Discovery was an important part of America's supremacy in space. But now, after flying 39 missions since 1984 and racking up nearly 149 million miles while spending a record total of a combined 365 days in space, this workhorse of NASA's fleet is home safe and sound and for good. With the launch of the shuttle Endeavour followed by Atlantis this phase of our space program will end.
There has been much success with the program, but the tragedies will be remembered as well. Americans were shaken by the explosion that occurred seconds after launch of the Challenger shuttle in 1986. In 2003, we were again reminded that space travel is a risky business when Columbia burned up while entering the earth's atmosphere.
Some of the most notable products and technical advances attributed to the space program are: scratch-resistant glasses, freeze-dried foods, athletic shoes, CAT scanners and MRIs, cool suits and cordless power tools to name a few. In addition, the Hubble telescope and the space station have the shuttle program to thank for their successes. Future efforts in space will likely produce similar technical and practical results.
Flight has come a long way since Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully faced the challenge of propelling a heavier-than-air machine through the air in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina back in December of 1903. The initial flight was over a distance of 120 feet and lasted just 12 seconds. The fourth and final flight of that historic day covered 852 feet and lasted 59 seconds.
The first flight showed that man could in fact fly and lit the fuse of imagination that continues to burn bright after more than a century. In WWI, the bi-planes played an important role. Following that airplanes had more utilitarian function. But it was WWII that set the stage for worldwide travel and shipping. Later, the jet revolutionized the importance of air travel by making it faster, easier and more comfortable.
Will the shuttle program act as the precursor to inter-planetary space travel? Will the inhabitants of earth take this for granted in the same way we accept jumping on a jetliner to go across the country in just a few hours as a perfectly natural thing to do? Or, will man's ingenuity result in a breakthrough that takes us to the stars faster and safer than we could believe? Whatever happens, the world will continue to benefit from America's successful space shuttle program.