Cover photo: Since 1915, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), transformed into NASA in 1958,has performed cutting-edge research to solve the problems of flight. Using a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat during WorldWar II, NACA engineers at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory (now Langley Research Center) in Hampton, Virginia,used this aircraft to investigate the cuffs on the propeller blades to determine their efficiency. While not built to the fullproduction standard of other Grumman Wildcats, research on this aircraft, the second F4F-3, proved most successfulin advancing knowledge of the aerodynamics of this engine and propeller system. This photo shows a close-up of thepropeller blades with Curtiss Electric Propellers’ logo.

From the sands ofKitty Hawk in 1903to the outer edges ofour solar system in2003, no inventionhas made such anindelible imprint onour world as the air-plane. Crafted by two

ordinary men who were driven to achieveextraordinary results, the 1903 WrightFlyer represents an achievement of creativ-ity, determination and courage. The nationalCentennial of Flight: Born of Dreams—Inspired by Freedom commemoration cele-brates the human desire for freedom, thepower of dreams and the astonishing reali-ties they can create.

Let us use the story of flight to build anew level of enthusiasm for perseveranceand resolve in the quest for ingenuity. TheU.S. Centennial of Flight Commission iscommitted to providing educational materialon the history and influence of flight. Asyou read this brochure, I hope that youfind the information both informative andinspiring. Ask yourselves, and those aroundyou, “If we can fly, what can’t we do?” It isthrough this spirit of adventure and deter-mination that we will create the next cen-tury of aviation milestones.

—J.R. Dailey, Chairman, U.S. Centennial ofFlight Commission

One hundred years ago,the promise of flyingmachines and poweredairships was foundexclusively in the mindsof dreamers. Mostbelieved powered flightwas a far-fetched idea,the stuff of myths and

legends. On 17 December 1903, Orvilleand Wilbur Wright dispelled those mythsand propelled us into a new era of explo-ration and innovation. Flying a biplanemade of wood and cloth from a Kitty Hawksand dune, they transformed our dreamof flight into a breathtaking reality.

Since that first 20-second flight, theachievements of civilian and military aviationhave far surpassed the dreams of those earlyvisionaries. Airmen have revolutionizedtravel and commerce, pioneered the devel-opment of groundbreaking technologies,redefined the way we defend our interests, andhelped shape a world in which our nation’ssafety and prosperity would flourish. Poweredflight is and will continue to be one of human-kind’s most significant accomplishments. Ifproperly guided and nourished—with thesame vision that characterized its creators—the second century of flight will furtheradvance the peaceful and productive inter-action of nations, continue to protect ourcherished freedoms, and provide for thebenefit of all mankind.

The United States Air Force joins the worldin celebrating the spirit of the Wright brothers’creativity and our nation’s aviation pioneers.As we reflect on a century of flight, we reaf-firm our commitment to continue the dreamstarted by those first airmen. We’ve come along way in our first 100 years of flight . . .imagine where the next 100 years will take us.

—John P. Jumper, General, USAF Chief of Staff

Thirty-three years ago,when astronauts NeilArmstrong and “Buzz”Aldrin skillfully pilotedthe lunar moduleEagle to a soft land-ing on the Moon, theypaid tribute toAmerica’s aviation

heritage by bringing with them a piece ofthe original Wright Flyer’s fabric and pro-peller. That incredible summer day in1969, our moonwalkers demonstrated forall time that the sky’s no longer the limit.

As flight’s second century begins, theUnited States is still boldly pioneering theair and space frontier. And the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration,NASA, is a proud leader in this effort.

Fittingly, NASA’s roots extend back toaviation’s infancy. In 1915, our predeces-sor, the National Advisory Committee forAeronautics, NACA, was formed to helpimprove aircraft performance, efficiency,and safety. Today, NASA scientists, engi-neers, and test pilots continue to pushthe envelope of flight technology.

NASA’s vision for the next century offlight—to improve life here, extend life tothere, and find life beyond—compels usto improve and create all types of aircraft,better understand Earth’s climate, probethe universe’s mysteries, and send explor-ers to the planets. This celebration of thecentennial of flight reminds all of us howprivileged we are to be engaged at justthe start of an adventure without end.

—Sean O’Keefe, Administrator, NASA

1

■ This photograph of the first flight at KittyHawk, North Carolina, on 17 December 1903is one of the most recognized in the world.With Orville Wright at the controls, lying proneon the lower wing with his hips in the cradlethat operated the wing-warping mechanism,the first successful powered flight took place.Wilbur Wright, seen running alongside to bal-ance the machine, has just released his holdon the forward upright of the right wing. Thestarting rail, the wing rest, a coil box, andother items needed for flight preparation arevisible behind the machine. This flight was theresult of years of experiments and design bythe Wright brothers, who were operators of a

bicycle repair shop and factory in Dayton,Ohio. The brothers continued their flyingexperiments in Ohio and in Fort Myer, Virginia,and were granted a patent for the plane in1906. In 1908 and 1909, they traveled toEurope and drew attention to their inventionby flying in France, Italy, England, and Germany.In 1909, they started a company to manufac-ture Wright airplanes and began their suc-cessful fight against patent suits by GlennCurtis and other competitors. Wilbur died oftyphoid fever in 1912, and Orville sold hisinterest in the Wright Airplane Company in1915. The Wright brothers were aware of theimportant relationship of photography to their

work, both scientifically and historically.Accordingly, they recorded their experimentsphotographically and, later, on film. TheWrights asked John T. Daniels of the Kill DevilHills Life Saving Station, who was among thespectators, to snap the camera for them justat the moment the machine had reached theend of the takeoff rail and had risen two feetinto the air. Before attempting the flight,Orville had placed the camera on a tripod,aimed at a point he hoped the machine wouldreach when it left the track. The shot wassuccessful, and the negative was developedby Orville on his return to Dayton. (Courtesy ofthe Library of Congress, Negative LC-W861-35)

The most beautiful dream that has haunted the heart of man since Icarus is today reality. —Louis Blériot

Acknowledgments: writers/historians/reviewers, Judy Baker, Roger Launius, Tom Crouch, Ned Preston,Roger Miller,Louise Alstork, Tony Springer, John Childress, Bill Anderson, Sherry Foster, Phil Milstead, Steve Garber, Leslye Mogford,and Mike Gorn; brochure concept, Thom Pinelli; editors, Susan Hurd and Lisa Jirousek; photo researcher, Mark Sutton;designers, Heather Grimstead and Melissa Kennedy. Printed fall 2002.

1775 American Revolutionary War began

With public enthusiasm approaching apeak, the Montgolfier brothers designeda large balloon that carried the firsthuman passengers aloft. On 21 November1783, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquisd’Arlandes fed a fire of burning strawthat filled the canopy of the balloon withhot air, lifting them about 330 feet intothe Paris skies. Their flight lasted under30 minutes. J. A. C. Charles and a companion, M. N. Robert Millbrook,became the first people to fly aboard agas balloon on 1 December 1783.

Balloons captured the imagination ofEuropeans and Americans alike. PeterCarnes, a lawyer and tavern keeper inBladensburg, Maryland, sent the firstAmerican, thirteen-year-old EdwardWarren, into the air on a tethered flightfrom Baltimore, Maryland, in June 1784.Early the following year, anotherAmerican, Dr. John Jeffries, accompa-nied aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard onthe first flight across the English Channel.

Gas balloons continued in usethroughout the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies, offering scientists a means ofexploring the upper atmosphere and pro-viding military officers with an aerialperch from which to observe the enemy.

Hot-air balloonsbecame popular onceagain after World War II,when the advent of newmaterials and propane-fired burners offeredsportsmen a new way toventure aloft. In 1999, aftera twenty-day, nonstop flight,Bertrand Piccard and BrianJones became the first ballooniststo complete a nonstop circumnaviga-tion of the globe. The last solo balloonhurdle was crossed in 2002 when SteveFossett circumnavigated the world byballoon alone. Today, colorful hot-air bal-loons of fanciful designs are seen float-ing in the skies all over the world. Thosewho see them might agree with JosephMontgolfier, who long ago instructed hisbrother to prepare the materials for theirfirst balloon—“and you will see one ofthe most incredible things in the world.”

1797 First parachute jump

1785January 7 Dr. John Jeffries, an American physician living in London,accompanied the French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard on the first flight across the English Channel.

use of rubber-band-powered motors in asmall ornithopter built and flown in1874. Today, ornithopter designs are stillon the minds, as well as the drawingboards, of adventurous and imaginativepeople determined to achieve the olddream of flight with flapping wings.

Drawings, left to right: da Vinci air screwsketch, Pénaud sketch.

National Air and Space Museum ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

who understood some of the basic prin-ciples of flight as early as the 1480s,could only dream of flying ornithopterand helicopter designs that could neverhave left the ground. He and others ofhis time failed to realize that humanbeings lacked the necessary musclepower to imitate bird flight.

Almost four hundred years afterLeonardo, French inventor GustaveTrouvé designed an ornithopter that waspowered by an internal combustionengine. In 1870, Trouvé’s model suc-cessfully flew a distance of 70 meters ina demonstration before the FrenchAcademy of Sciences. Another French-man, Alphonse Pénaud, pioneered the

Winging It■ For hundreds of years, human beingsattached all manner of wing-like struc-tures to their arms, flung themselvesfrom the tops of towers and other highplaces, and attempted to fly. Most of

these would-be aviatorssought to fly with

ornithopters,machines that beattheir wings likebirds. Even the bril-liant Italian artist,

scientist, and engi-neer Leonardo da Vinci,

#92-15369

#74-3837

3500 B.C.King Etena of Babylonia was pictured on a coin, flying onan eagle’s back.

2500 B.C. An Inca Founder (Auca) was “winged and could fly.”

1400 Printing press invented

ThePrehistory of Flight■ Human beings have always wantedto fly. Evidence of our ancient desire tojoin the birds in the sky can be found inour earliest legends of winged gods andheroes, flying horses, and magic car-pets. Then there are the hazy tales ofreal human beings who were carriedaloft by kites or who sought to fly withwings of their own design. All too often,these intrepid souls suffered brokenbones or worse.

When the age of flight finally did arrive,it came from an unexpected directionthat had nothing to do with wings. Theinvention of the balloon created a waveof excitement that swept across Europeand America. Although the balloon wouldbe put to good use by science and themilitary, it could only travel where thewind blew it. The age-old dream ofwings remained very much alive.

Daedalus and Icarus ■ The story of Daedalus and Icarus is themost famous of all flight myths. Minos,the King of Crete, hired the talentedcraftsman Daedalus to design a Labyrinth,or maze, in which to imprison the Minotaur,a half-man, half-bull creature. Each year,young people were sacrificed to appeasethe monster. When Daedalus helpedTheseus, a young hero selected for thesacrifice, to kill the Minotaur and escape,Minos imprisoned the inventor and his son,Icarus. Realizing that flight was the onlyway in which he and Icarus could freethemselves, Daedalus fashioned wingsout of feathers and wax to carry themacross the sea, away from King Minos.

1000 B.C.The Chinese invented kites that carried scouts on recon-naissance missions.

1162A man in Constantinople fashioned sail-like wings from afabric gathered into pleats and folds. He plummeted fromthe top of a tower and died.

1783June 4 Montgolfier brothers launched the first public balloon flight.

November 21 Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis D’Arlandeswere the first humans to fly in an untethered balloon.

belonged to one of the leading paper-making families of France. Fascinated bynew discoveries in science, JosephMontgolfier had begun to experimentwith paper and fabric bags filled with hotair in the early 1780s. With his youngerbrother Etienne, he launched a balloonmeasuring ten feet in diameter from thetown square on 4 June 1783.

When news of what the two brothershad achieved in distant Annonay reachedParis, a prize was offered to the individ-ual who could repeat the Montgolfierexperiment. Not sure how the brothershad accomplished the feat, J. A. C. Charles,a popular lecturer on scientific topics,constructed the first balloon filled withhydrogen, a gas very much lighter thanair. He launched the first gas balloon in

Paris on 27 August 1783, nearthe spot where the Eiffel Towernow stands. Not to be out-done, the Montgolfiers hur-ried to the capital andarranged the flight fromVersailles in September.

■ Humanbeings have

dreamed of flight forcenturies, but the first

creatures to venture aloftin a balloon were a duck,

a sheep, and a rooster. Anenormous crowd joined the King ofFrance, Louis XVI, his Queen, MarieAntoinette, and their children at theVersailles palace on 19 September1783. The occasion was the flight ofthese three hapless animal passengersaboard a hot-air balloon constructed bybrothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier.After an aerial voyage lasting only eightminutes and covering some two miles,the first three air travelers returned safelyto Earth, none the worse for wear.

The Montgolfier brothers, natives ofAnnonay, in the south of France,

Up,Up,and Away…

1100 Gunpowder used to build rockets2560 B.C. Great Pyramid of Khufu built

Copyright 2001, Jeff Dean, “Big Blue” flown by Above & Beyond Balloon Co., Carmel, Indiana, http://www.intheair-online.com

2 3

1784June 4 Elisabeth Thible was the first woman to make aballoon flight.

June 24 In a tethered flight from Baltimore, Maryland,thirteen-year-old Edward Warren was the first to fly in a balloon from American soil.

Daedalus carefully instructedhis son to fly “a middlecourse,” safely between thewater that might weigh downthe feathers if it sprayed onthem and the Sun, which couldmelt the wax that held the feath-ers in place. Icarus, thrilled by thefreedom of his flight and curious toexplore the heavens above him,soared higher and higher, until theheat of the Sun destroyed his wingsand he plunged to his death in thesea. The story of Icarus and Daedaluswas told and retold through the cen-turies, inspiring human beings to fly andcautioning those who dared to dream oftrespassing on the domain of the gods.

A Montgolfier-type balloon is depicted at thetime of launch in Paris in 1783.

National Air & Space Museum #93-2342 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Hindu mythology tells of the birddeity Garuda, often depicted in artas having the body of a man but thehead and wings of an eagle. Thisgreat and powerful flying god-bird lenthis body as a vehicle to the Hindu godVishnu, with whom he is worshiped.

Garuda’s image can be seen in sculpture,paintings, and architecture, especially that ofroyal residences.

©1993; image from the “WorldBank Collection CDROM,” byAztech New Media Corporation, in cooperation with BC Pictures

A bird is an instrument working according to mathematical law . . . which it is within the capacity of man to reproduce. —Leonardo da Vinci

1775 American Revolutionary War began

With public enthusiasm approaching apeak, the Montgolfier brothers designeda large balloon that carried the firsthuman passengers aloft. On 21 November1783, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquisd’Arlandes fed a fire of burning strawthat filled the canopy of the balloon withhot air, lifting them about 330 feet intothe Paris skies. Their flight lasted under30 minutes. J. A. C. Charles and a companion, M. N. Robert Millbrook,became the first people to fly aboard agas balloon on 1 December 1783.

Balloons captured the imagination ofEuropeans and Americans alike. PeterCarnes, a lawyer and tavern keeper inBladensburg, Maryland, sent the firstAmerican, thirteen-year-old EdwardWarren, into the air on a tethered flightfrom Baltimore, Maryland, in June 1784.Early the following year, anotherAmerican, Dr. John Jeffries, accompa-nied aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard onthe first flight across the English Channel.

Gas balloons continued in usethroughout the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies, offering scientists a means ofexploring the upper atmosphere and pro-viding military officers with an aerialperch from which to observe the enemy.

Hot-air balloonsbecame popular onceagain after World War II,when the advent of newmaterials and propane-fired burners offeredsportsmen a new way toventure aloft. In 1999, aftera twenty-day, nonstop flight,Bertrand Piccard and BrianJones became the first ballooniststo complete a nonstop circumnaviga-tion of the globe. The last solo balloonhurdle was crossed in 2002 when SteveFossett circumnavigated the world byballoon alone. Today, colorful hot-air bal-loons of fanciful designs are seen float-ing in the skies all over the world. Thosewho see them might agree with JosephMontgolfier, who long ago instructed hisbrother to prepare the materials for theirfirst balloon—“and you will see one ofthe most incredible things in the world.”

1797 First parachute jump

1785January 7 Dr. John Jeffries, an American physician living in London,accompanied the French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard on the first flight across the English Channel.

use of rubber-band-powered motors in asmall ornithopter built and flown in1874. Today, ornithopter designs are stillon the minds, as well as the drawingboards, of adventurous and imaginativepeople determined to achieve the olddream of flight with flapping wings.

Drawings, left to right: da Vinci air screwsketch, Pénaud sketch.

National Air and Space Museum ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

who understood some of the basic prin-ciples of flight as early as the 1480s,could only dream of flying ornithopterand helicopter designs that could neverhave left the ground. He and others ofhis time failed to realize that humanbeings lacked the necessary musclepower to imitate bird flight.

Almost four hundred years afterLeonardo, French inventor GustaveTrouvé designed an ornithopter that waspowered by an internal combustionengine. In 1870, Trouvé’s model suc-cessfully flew a distance of 70 meters ina demonstration before the FrenchAcademy of Sciences. Another French-man, Alphonse Pénaud, pioneered the

Winging It■ For hundreds of years, human beingsattached all manner of wing-like struc-tures to their arms, flung themselvesfrom the tops of towers and other highplaces, and attempted to fly. Most of

these would-be aviatorssought to fly with

ornithopters,machines that beattheir wings likebirds. Even the bril-liant Italian artist,

scientist, and engi-neer Leonardo da Vinci,

#92-15369

#74-3837

3500 B.C.King Etena of Babylonia was pictured on a coin, flying onan eagle’s back.

2500 B.C. An Inca Founder (Auca) was “winged and could fly.”

1400 Printing press invented

ThePrehistory of Flight■ Human beings have always wantedto fly. Evidence of our ancient desire tojoin the birds in the sky can be found inour earliest legends of winged gods andheroes, flying horses, and magic car-pets. Then there are the hazy tales ofreal human beings who were carriedaloft by kites or who sought to fly withwings of their own design. All too often,these intrepid souls suffered brokenbones or worse.

When the age of flight finally did arrive,it came from an unexpected directionthat had nothing to do with wings. Theinvention of the balloon created a waveof excitement that swept across Europeand America. Although the balloon wouldbe put to good use by science and themilitary, it could only travel where thewind blew it. The age-old dream ofwings remained very much alive.

Daedalus and Icarus ■ The story of Daedalus and Icarus is themost famous of all flight myths. Minos,the King of Crete, hired the talentedcraftsman Daedalus to design a Labyrinth,or maze, in which to imprison the Minotaur,a half-man, half-bull creature. Each year,young people were sacrificed to appeasethe monster. When Daedalus helpedTheseus, a young hero selected for thesacrifice, to kill the Minotaur and escape,Minos imprisoned the inventor and his son,Icarus. Realizing that flight was the onlyway in which he and Icarus could freethemselves, Daedalus fashioned wingsout of feathers and wax to carry themacross the sea, away from King Minos.

1000 B.C.The Chinese invented kites that carried scouts on recon-naissance missions.

1162A man in Constantinople fashioned sail-like wings from afabric gathered into pleats and folds. He plummeted fromthe top of a tower and died.

1783June 4 Montgolfier brothers launched the first public balloon flight.

November 21 Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis D’Arlandeswere the first humans to fly in an untethered balloon.

belonged to one of the leading paper-making families of France. Fascinated bynew discoveries in science, JosephMontgolfier had begun to experimentwith paper and fabric bags filled with hotair in the early 1780s. With his youngerbrother Etienne, he launched a balloonmeasuring ten feet in diameter from thetown square on 4 June 1783.

When news of what the two brothershad achieved in distant Annonay reachedParis, a prize was offered to the individ-ual who could repeat the Montgolfierexperiment. Not sure how the brothershad accomplished the feat, J. A. C. Charles,a popular lecturer on scientific topics,constructed the first balloon filled withhydrogen, a gas very much lighter thanair. He launched the first gas balloon in

Paris on 27 August 1783, nearthe spot where the Eiffel Towernow stands. Not to be out-done, the Montgolfiers hur-ried to the capital andarranged the flight fromVersailles in September.

■ Humanbeings have

dreamed of flight forcenturies, but the first

creatures to venture aloftin a balloon were a duck,

a sheep, and a rooster. Anenormous crowd joined the King ofFrance, Louis XVI, his Queen, MarieAntoinette, and their children at theVersailles palace on 19 September1783. The occasion was the flight ofthese three hapless animal passengersaboard a hot-air balloon constructed bybrothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier.After an aerial voyage lasting only eightminutes and covering some two miles,the first three air travelers returned safelyto Earth, none the worse for wear.

The Montgolfier brothers, natives ofAnnonay, in the south of France,

Up,Up,and Away…

1100 Gunpowder used to build rockets2560 B.C. Great Pyramid of Khufu built

Copyright 2001, Jeff Dean, “Big Blue” flown by Above & Beyond Balloon Co., Carmel, Indiana, http://www.intheair-online.com

2 3

1784June 4 Elisabeth Thible was the first woman to make aballoon flight.

June 24 In a tethered flight from Baltimore, Maryland,thirteen-year-old Edward Warren was the first to fly in a balloon from American soil.

Daedalus carefully instructedhis son to fly “a middlecourse,” safely between thewater that might weigh downthe feathers if it sprayed onthem and the Sun, which couldmelt the wax that held the feath-ers in place. Icarus, thrilled by thefreedom of his flight and curious toexplore the heavens above him,soared higher and higher, until theheat of the Sun destroyed his wingsand he plunged to his death in thesea. The story of Icarus and Daedaluswas told and retold through the cen-turies, inspiring human beings to fly andcautioning those who dared to dream oftrespassing on the domain of the gods.

A Montgolfier-type balloon is depicted at thetime of launch in Paris in 1783.

National Air & Space Museum #93-2342 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Hindu mythology tells of the birddeity Garuda, often depicted in artas having the body of a man but thehead and wings of an eagle. Thisgreat and powerful flying god-bird lenthis body as a vehicle to the Hindu godVishnu, with whom he is worshiped.

Garuda’s image can be seen in sculpture,paintings, and architecture, especially that ofroyal residences.

©1993; image from the “WorldBank Collection CDROM,” byAztech New Media Corporation, in cooperation with BC Pictures

A bird is an instrument working according to mathematical law . . . which it is within the capacity of man to reproduce. —Leonardo da Vinci

be controlled, they were the first pow-ered, significantly large models to fly.

The War Department then providedSecretary Langley with $50,000 todesign and build a full-scale aerodromecapable of carrying a pilot. He tested hismachine in October and December of1903. On both occasions, the structurecollapsed when catapulted into the airfrom a houseboat anchored in thePotomac River. It flew, one reporterobserved, “like a handful of mortar.”Pilot Charles Manly survived both trials,but the aeronautical career of SamuelLangley was at an end.

1813 Steam locomotive invented

1794June 26 The French used a tethered balloon to observea battlefield and direct artillery fire.

1804Sir George Cayley, England’s “father of aeronautics,” builtand flew the world’s first successful model glider.

■ Sir George Cayley, a nineteenth-century English baronet, richly deservesto be remembered as the “father ofaeronautics.” His insatiable curiosityled him to conduct the first real experi-ments designed to uncover the basicprinciples of flight. He discovered thatthe arched shape of a bird’s wing wasone of the secrets of bird flight andreasoned that a similar shape on afixed-wing machine might likewiseallow it to fly.

Cayley designed, built, and flew theworld’s first model glider in 1804. Hecontinued his experiments throughouthis long life and is said to have sent

his coachmanon a short glideacross a shallowvalley near hishome, Brompton Hall,in 1853. Legend has it that the fright-ened servant resigned on the spot,explaining that he had been hired todrive, not to fly.

Sir George Cayley’s many contributionsto aviation include the understandingthat a successful heavier-than-air flyingmachine would have to feature separatesystems for lift, propulsion, and control.He explained the importance of stream-lining, described the way in which stabilityand control could be achieved, andunderscored the need for a lightweightpower plant. The first person to link theevolving processes of science and engi-neering with aviation, he opened thedoor to the future.

Otto Lilienthal built on both the experi-ments and information provided by SirGeorge Cayley. He published the resultsof his ground-based research, “Birdflightas the Basis of Aviation,” in 1890; hethen began to apply what he had learnedto the design of the gliders with which hewould continue his work. Between 1890and the time of his death in a glidercrash in August 1896, Lilienthal made asmany as 2,000 flights in eighteen differ-ent designs, including both monoplanes(single-wing) and biplanes. All his craftwere hang gliders, controlled in the air bymovements of the pilot’s body, whichhung beneath the machine. The work ofOtto Lilienthal provided the starting pointfor the experimenters who would takethe final critical steps toward the inven-tion of the airplane.

Inventing Wings■ Early in the nineteenth century, theage of dreams had given way to seriousattempts to understand the principles offlight and to apply the lessons learned tothe design of real flying machines.Cautious experimenters tested theirideas with powered models, while themore daring sampled the delights andthe dangers of gliding flight. Their suc-cesses and their failures helped movehuman beings toward what some consid-ered impossible and others consideredinevitable—piloted, powered flight.

Above, left to right: Sir George Cayley (1773–1857); Octave Chanute (1832–1910); Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896).Below: Sketch by George Cayley.

National Air and Space Museum #96-15394, #A-21147-B, SI-A-39013, #00102 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Aviation Pioneers

Above: George Cayley’s sketches show a variety of glider designs. #85-18307

#73-9669

made in the field and then sharing it withothers who could carry on its develop-ment, Chanute inspired and stimulatedother aviation experimenters, including apair of brothers from Dayton, Ohio.

Octave Chanute attracted the Americanscientist Samuel P. Langley to aeronautics.Appointed Secretary of the SmithsonianInstitution in 1887, Langley conductedextensive research into the principles offlight, then began his design experimentswith small rubber-band-powered modelsthat he called “aerodromes.” In 1896,Langley completed two flights of up to4,200 feet with model steam-poweredaerodromes. While the aerodromes weretoo small to carry a pilot and could not

1868 Matthew Boulton obtained a British patent on a designfor ailerons as control surfaces.

1878Bishop Wright gave his sons, Orville and Wilbur, a toyhelicopter.

1884 Horatio Phillips of England designed a wing with a curvedairfoil shape.

1896May 6 Samuel P. Langley launched the first reasonablylarge, steam-powered model aircraft.

1899May 30 Wilbur Wright wrote the Smithsonian Institutionand affirmed his belief that human flight was possible.

1900The Wright brothers flew their first of several gliders, abiplane that soared for 300 feet.

1868 First transcontinental railroad 1897 Spanish-American War 1899 Aspirin first manufactured

Octave Chanute, a self-taught Americanengineer, became interested in aeronau-tics in the 1870s. Corresponding withflying machine experimenters around theglobe, he quickly emerged as the focalpoint of an international community ofengineers who were attempting to fly. Anadmirer of Lilienthal, Chanute sponsoreda series of glider trials on the sanddunes at the southern tip of LakeMichigan in the summer of 1896. Thetrials produced a triplane/biplane hangglider that represented a distinctimprovement over the Lilienthal designs.A passionate promoter of aviation whobelieved in the importance of collectinginformation about the progress being

Interesting ReadingBilstein, Roger E. Flight in America: From theWrights to the Astronauts. Baltimore, MD:Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001 (revisedpaperback edition).

Corn, Joseph J. The Winged Gospel: America’sRomance with Aviation, 1900–1950.Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress, 2002 (revised paperback edition).

Crouch, Tom D. The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1989.

Heppenheimer, T. A. A Brief History of Flight:From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. NewYork: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

Kolb, Rocky. Blind Watchers of the Sky: ThePeople and Ideas That Shaped Our View ofthe Universe. Reading, MA: Helix Books,Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1996.

Launius, Roger D. Frontiers of Space Exploration.Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Lopez, Donald S. Aviation: A SmithsonianGuide. New York: Macmillan, 1995.

Millbrooke, Ann. Aviation History. Englewood,Colorado: Jeppeson, Sanderson, 2000.

Spangenburg, Ray, and Diane Moser. TheStory of America’s Air Transportation. NewYork: Facts on File, 1992.

Wohl, Robert. A Passion for Wings: Aviationand the Western Imagination, 1908–1918.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.

Samuel P. Langley flew the first powered aerodrome models.

#89-10677

4 To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something. To fly is everything. —Otto Lilienthal 5

Above left: Lilienthal blueprint depicting the glider Lilienthal considered the most successful.Above: Otto Lilienthal on one of his gliders. National Air and Space Museum ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

be controlled, they were the first pow-ered, significantly large models to fly.

The War Department then providedSecretary Langley with $50,000 todesign and build a full-scale aerodromecapable of carrying a pilot. He tested hismachine in October and December of1903. On both occasions, the structurecollapsed when catapulted into the airfrom a houseboat anchored in thePotomac River. It flew, one reporterobserved, “like a handful of mortar.”Pilot Charles Manly survived both trials,but the aeronautical career of SamuelLangley was at an end.

1813 Steam locomotive invented

1794June 26 The French used a tethered balloon to observea battlefield and direct artillery fire.

1804Sir George Cayley, England’s “father of aeronautics,” builtand flew the world’s first successful model glider.

■ Sir George Cayley, a nineteenth-century English baronet, richly deservesto be remembered as the “father ofaeronautics.” His insatiable curiosityled him to conduct the first real experi-ments designed to uncover the basicprinciples of flight. He discovered thatthe arched shape of a bird’s wing wasone of the secrets of bird flight andreasoned that a similar shape on afixed-wing machine might likewiseallow it to fly.

Cayley designed, built, and flew theworld’s first model glider in 1804. Hecontinued his experiments throughouthis long life and is said to have sent

his coachmanon a short glideacross a shallowvalley near hishome, Brompton Hall,in 1853. Legend has it that the fright-ened servant resigned on the spot,explaining that he had been hired todrive, not to fly.

Sir George Cayley’s many contributionsto aviation include the understandingthat a successful heavier-than-air flyingmachine would have to feature separatesystems for lift, propulsion, and control.He explained the importance of stream-lining, described the way in which stabilityand control could be achieved, andunderscored the need for a lightweightpower plant. The first person to link theevolving processes of science and engi-neering with aviation, he opened thedoor to the future.

Otto Lilienthal built on both the experi-ments and information provided by SirGeorge Cayley. He published the resultsof his ground-based research, “Birdflightas the Basis of Aviation,” in 1890; hethen began to apply what he had learnedto the design of the gliders with which hewould continue his work. Between 1890and the time of his death in a glidercrash in August 1896, Lilienthal made asmany as 2,000 flights in eighteen differ-ent designs, including both monoplanes(single-wing) and biplanes. All his craftwere hang gliders, controlled in the air bymovements of the pilot’s body, whichhung beneath the machine. The work ofOtto Lilienthal provided the starting pointfor the experimenters who would takethe final critical steps toward the inven-tion of the airplane.

Inventing Wings■ Early in the nineteenth century, theage of dreams had given way to seriousattempts to understand the principles offlight and to apply the lessons learned tothe design of real flying machines.Cautious experimenters tested theirideas with powered models, while themore daring sampled the delights andthe dangers of gliding flight. Their suc-cesses and their failures helped movehuman beings toward what some consid-ered impossible and others consideredinevitable—piloted, powered flight.

Above, left to right: Sir George Cayley (1773–1857); Octave Chanute (1832–1910); Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896).Below: Sketch by George Cayley.

National Air and Space Museum #96-15394, #A-21147-B, SI-A-39013, #00102 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Aviation Pioneers

Above: George Cayley’s sketches show a variety of glider designs. #85-18307

#73-9669

made in the field and then sharing it withothers who could carry on its develop-ment, Chanute inspired and stimulatedother aviation experimenters, including apair of brothers from Dayton, Ohio.

Octave Chanute attracted the Americanscientist Samuel P. Langley to aeronautics.Appointed Secretary of the SmithsonianInstitution in 1887, Langley conductedextensive research into the principles offlight, then began his design experimentswith small rubber-band-powered modelsthat he called “aerodromes.” In 1896,Langley completed two flights of up to4,200 feet with model steam-poweredaerodromes. While the aerodromes weretoo small to carry a pilot and could not

1868 Matthew Boulton obtained a British patent on a designfor ailerons as control surfaces.

1878Bishop Wright gave his sons, Orville and Wilbur, a toyhelicopter.

1884 Horatio Phillips of England designed a wing with a curvedairfoil shape.

1896May 6 Samuel P. Langley launched the first reasonablylarge, steam-powered model aircraft.

1899May 30 Wilbur Wright wrote the Smithsonian Institutionand affirmed his belief that human flight was possible.

1900The Wright brothers flew their first of several gliders, abiplane that soared for 300 feet.

1868 First transcontinental railroad 1897 Spanish-American War 1899 Aspirin first manufactured

Octave Chanute, a self-taught Americanengineer, became interested in aeronau-tics in the 1870s. Corresponding withflying machine experimenters around theglobe, he quickly emerged as the focalpoint of an international community ofengineers who were attempting to fly. Anadmirer of Lilienthal, Chanute sponsoreda series of glider trials on the sanddunes at the southern tip of LakeMichigan in the summer of 1896. Thetrials produced a triplane/biplane hangglider that represented a distinctimprovement over the Lilienthal designs.A passionate promoter of aviation whobelieved in the importance of collectinginformation about the progress being

Interesting ReadingBilstein, Roger E. Flight in America: From theWrights to the Astronauts. Baltimore, MD:Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001 (revisedpaperback edition).

Corn, Joseph J. The Winged Gospel: America’sRomance with Aviation, 1900–1950.Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress, 2002 (revised paperback edition).

Crouch, Tom D. The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1989.

Heppenheimer, T. A. A Brief History of Flight:From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. NewYork: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

Kolb, Rocky. Blind Watchers of the Sky: ThePeople and Ideas That Shaped Our View ofthe Universe. Reading, MA: Helix Books,Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1996.

Launius, Roger D. Frontiers of Space Exploration.Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Lopez, Donald S. Aviation: A SmithsonianGuide. New York: Macmillan, 1995.

Millbrooke, Ann. Aviation History. Englewood,Colorado: Jeppeson, Sanderson, 2000.

Spangenburg, Ray, and Diane Moser. TheStory of America’s Air Transportation. NewYork: Facts on File, 1992.

Wohl, Robert. A Passion for Wings: Aviationand the Western Imagination, 1908–1918.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.

Samuel P. Langley flew the first powered aerodrome models.

#89-10677

4 To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something. To fly is everything. —Otto Lilienthal 5

Above left: Lilienthal blueprint depicting the glider Lilienthal considered the most successful.Above: Otto Lilienthal on one of his gliders. National Air and Space Museum ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

1902Using tables created in 1901, the Wrights built a gliderthat had almost twice the efficiency of their previousones and made more than 1,000 flights that year at KillDevil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1903December 8 Samuel P. Langley’s man-carrying GreatAerodrome collapsed right after takeoff.

December 17 The Wright brothers completed the firstpowered, piloted, heavier-than-air, controlled flight.

1903 Ford Motor Company founded

■ Orville Wrightonce explainedthat he and hisbrother, Wilbur,were lucky tohave grown up “in an environ-ment wherethere was always

much encourage-ment to children to pursue intellectualinterests, to investigate whatever arousedcuriosity.” The sons of a church bishopand his mechanically inclined wife, theWright boys first became interested inflight as children when their father pre-sented them with a rubber-band-poweredhelicopter toy of the sort designed byAlphonse Pénaud. Although neither ofthem attended college, Wilbur and OrvilleWright were intellectual, intuitive, confi-dent, and mechanically gifted. As youngmen, they operated both a print shopand a bicycle shop in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Still, their curiosity andtechnical skills drove them to pursueother challenges. The death of OttoLilienthal reignited their boyhood passionfor wings.

The brothers launched their own aero-nautical effort in 1899 after correspon-ding with both the Smithsonian Institutionand Octave Chanute. They realized thattheir first challenge was finding a way tocontrol a machine in the air. They testedtheir notion of a wing-warping controlsystem on a small kite flown from a hill inDayton. Between 1900 and 1902, theybuilt three gliders, testing them over thesands of Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk,North Carolina, a location that was idealbecause of its high winds and tall dunes,with plenty of sand for soft landings.

Disappointed with the performance oftheir early gliders, the brothers conducteda series of wind tunnel tests in the bicycleshop during the fall of 1901. On thebasis of those tests and their experiencewith the gliders, they designed and builttheir third full-scale glider in 1902 andcompleted 1,000 flights with it, remainingairborne for as long as 26 seconds andcovering distances of up to 622.5 feet.

Now they were ready to attempt apiloted, powered flight. With assistancefrom their machinist, Charles Taylor, theydesigned and built the aircraft and afour-cylinder internal combustion enginethat would deliver precisely the amountof power required. They also built thepropellers, based on their wind tunneldata, that proved to be the most efficientof the time. Success came on the morn-ing of 17 December 1903. Orville Wrightmade the first flight at about 10:35 A.M.,a bumpy and erratic 12 seconds in theair. A few minutes later, Wilbur flew theplane 175 feet—just a few feet shorterthan the wingspan of a Boeing 747.Orville then flew again, a distance of 200 feet. During the final flight of theday, piloted by Wilbur, the Wright Flyerremained airborne for 59 seconds andflew 852 feet.

These four flights marked the first timethat a powered, heavier-than-air machinehad made a sustained flight under thecomplete control of the pilot. The Wrightbrothers were not surprised by their suc-cess, for they had meticulously calculatedhow their machine would perform andwere confident that it would fly once theyhad ironed out all the problems fromtheir previous tests.

Within a few days of these flights, theWright brothers were the subject of what

Two Ordinary Men, OneExtraordinary Dream

1901Using existing aerodynamics tables, the Wright brothersconstructed new wings for a larger glider. However, itsflight was marginal, so they tested the tables by analyzingmodel wings in a wind tunnel. The tables proved to bewrong, and the Wrights painstakingly computed new ones.

1901 First transatlantic radio signal

Success!■ The great moment arrived on a windywinter morning on a North Carolinabeach, the result of the work of twobrothers with a passion for bicycling andan insatiable curiosity. The Wright broth-ers introduced the era of powered flight,and men and women everywhere wereanxious to follow them into the air.Steady improvements in the design ofengines and aircraft structures produceda new generation of aircraft capable offlying higher, faster, and farther.

had signed contracts for the sale of theirmachine. They ceased flying completelyin the fall of 1905 and concentrated onfinding buyers for their technology.

In 1908, the Wright brothers finallyreceived due acclaim when Wilbur madepublic flights in Europe, amazing specta-tors with his flying skill and the maneu-verability of the Wright Model A biplane.That same year, Orville took a plane to

Fort Myer, Virginia, wherehe demonstrated the

Flyer. In 1909, theyreturned to Fort Myerand sold the world’sfirst military plane.

By 1909, the WrightCompany was turning

out four planes a month,making it the largest airplane

1904Returning to Ohio, the Wright brothers experimented withnew planes and motors and flew an improved Flyer II.

1905The Wrights’ Flyer III became the world’s first practicalairplane but attracted little attention.

1906The Wrights were granted a patent for the airplane control system.

1907November 13 Paul Cornu, a French inventor, flew thefirst helicopter. The flight lasted only 20 seconds andhovered just 1 foot (30 cm) above the ground.

1908The Wrights finally began to receive credit and attentionfor their invention. Submitting a bid to the Army for a mil-itary flying machine, Orville brought a Flyer to Fort Myer,Virginia; passed the trials; and won a contract for theworld’s first military airplane. Later that year, the planecrashed after a propeller failure, seriously injuring Orvilleand killing his passenger, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.

1905 Albert Einstein published theory of special relativity 1908 C. F. Cross invented cellophane1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred

were, for the most part, wild and inaccu-rate reports on the front pages of majornewspapers from coast to coast. Whenthey did not follow up with public flights in 1904, the press assumed that the KittyHawk story had been an exaggeration, ifnot a hoax.

Wilbur and Orville Wright pressedahead, moving their experiments closer totheir Dayton, Ohio, home. There, in 1904,in a meadow called Huffman Prairie, theybuilt the Wright Flyer II, the first airplaneto fly a circle in the air. The Flyer III fol-lowed in 1905, a plane that could stayin the air for over half anhour, turn, bank, and flyfigure eights. TheWrights were deter-mined not to fly inpublic until they hadreceived the protec-tion of a patent and

manufacturer in the world. They alsoformed one of the earliest exhibitionteams, flying in various venues where theycould publicize and market their planes.

Orville continued to fly through 13 May1918, six years after Wilbur’s death fromtyphoid fever. He sold his interest in theirbusiness in 1915 but remained activelyengaged in other related pursuits, amongthem an ongoing disagreement with theSmithsonian Institution over who had beenthe first capable of flight, the Wrights orSamuel Langley. The Smithsonian hadoriginally given the nod to Langley butlater acquiesced in favor of the Wrightbrothers. When Orville Wright died in1948, he had seen many of the advancesin aviation that were a direct result of thework he and his brother had accomplished.

76 For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. —Wilbur Wright

Left: Orville Wright; right: Wilbur Wright. NASA Langley Research Center.

Below: Wilbur Wright attempted the first powered flight on 14 December 1903. National Air and Space Museum #A-38618A ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Above: Facsimile of the telegram sent byOrville Wright on 17 December 1903, reproduced in commemoration of the ninetieth anniversary of piloted, controlled,powered flight. Note the error in the spelling of Orville Wright’s name and the error in listing the air time. The longest flight was actually 59 seconds.

1902 Aswan Dam in Egypt completed

1902Using tables created in 1901, the Wrights built a gliderthat had almost twice the efficiency of their previousones and made more than 1,000 flights that year at KillDevil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1903December 8 Samuel P. Langley’s man-carrying GreatAerodrome collapsed right after takeoff.

December 17 The Wright brothers completed the firstpowered, piloted, heavier-than-air, controlled flight.

1903 Ford Motor Company founded

■ Orville Wrightonce explainedthat he and hisbrother, Wilbur,were lucky tohave grown up “in an environ-ment wherethere was always

much encourage-ment to children to pursue intellectualinterests, to investigate whatever arousedcuriosity.” The sons of a church bishopand his mechanically inclined wife, theWright boys first became interested inflight as children when their father pre-sented them with a rubber-band-poweredhelicopter toy of the sort designed byAlphonse Pénaud. Although neither ofthem attended college, Wilbur and OrvilleWright were intellectual, intuitive, confi-dent, and mechanically gifted. As youngmen, they operated both a print shopand a bicycle shop in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Still, their curiosity andtechnical skills drove them to pursueother challenges. The death of OttoLilienthal reignited their boyhood passionfor wings.

The brothers launched their own aero-nautical effort in 1899 after correspon-ding with both the Smithsonian Institutionand Octave Chanute. They realized thattheir first challenge was finding a way tocontrol a machine in the air. They testedtheir notion of a wing-warping controlsystem on a small kite flown from a hill inDayton. Between 1900 and 1902, theybuilt three gliders, testing them over thesands of Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk,North Carolina, a location that was idealbecause of its high winds and tall dunes,with plenty of sand for soft landings.

Disappointed with the performance oftheir early gliders, the brothers conducteda series of wind tunnel tests in the bicycleshop during the fall of 1901. On thebasis of those tests and their experiencewith the gliders, they designed and builttheir third full-scale glider in 1902 andcompleted 1,000 flights with it, remainingairborne for as long as 26 seconds andcovering distances of up to 622.5 feet.

Now they were ready to attempt apiloted, powered flight. With assistancefrom their machinist, Charles Taylor, theydesigned and built the aircraft and afour-cylinder internal combustion enginethat would deliver precisely the amountof power required. They also built thepropellers, based on their wind tunneldata, that proved to be the most efficientof the time. Success came on the morn-ing of 17 December 1903. Orville Wrightmade the first flight at about 10:35 A.M.,a bumpy and erratic 12 seconds in theair. A few minutes later, Wilbur flew theplane 175 feet—just a few feet shorterthan the wingspan of a Boeing 747.Orville then flew again, a distance of 200 feet. During the final flight of theday, piloted by Wilbur, the Wright Flyerremained airborne for 59 seconds andflew 852 feet.

These four flights marked the first timethat a powered, heavier-than-air machinehad made a sustained flight under thecomplete control of the pilot. The Wrightbrothers were not surprised by their suc-cess, for they had meticulously calculatedhow their machine would perform andwere confident that it would fly once theyhad ironed out all the problems fromtheir previous tests.

Within a few days of these flights, theWright brothers were the subject of what

Two Ordinary Men, OneExtraordinary Dream

1901Using existing aerodynamics tables, the Wright brothersconstructed new wings for a larger glider. However, itsflight was marginal, so they tested the tables by analyzingmodel wings in a wind tunnel. The tables proved to bewrong, and the Wrights painstakingly computed new ones.

1901 First transatlantic radio signal

Success!■ The great moment arrived on a windywinter morning on a North Carolinabeach, the result of the work of twobrothers with a passion for bicycling andan insatiable curiosity. The Wright broth-ers introduced the era of powered flight,and men and women everywhere wereanxious to follow them into the air.Steady improvements in the design ofengines and aircraft structures produceda new generation of aircraft capable offlying higher, faster, and farther.

had signed contracts for the sale of theirmachine. They ceased flying completelyin the fall of 1905 and concentrated onfinding buyers for their technology.

In 1908, the Wright brothers finallyreceived due acclaim when Wilbur madepublic flights in Europe, amazing specta-tors with his flying skill and the maneu-verability of the Wright Model A biplane.That same year, Orville took a plane to

Fort Myer, Virginia, wherehe demonstrated the

Flyer. In 1909, theyreturned to Fort Myerand sold the world’sfirst military plane.

By 1909, the WrightCompany was turning

out four planes a month,making it the largest airplane

1904Returning to Ohio, the Wright brothers experimented withnew planes and motors and flew an improved Flyer II.

1905The Wrights’ Flyer III became the world’s first practicalairplane but attracted little attention.

1906The Wrights were granted a patent for the airplane control system.

1907November 13 Paul Cornu, a French inventor, flew thefirst helicopter. The flight lasted only 20 seconds andhovered just 1 foot (30 cm) above the ground.

1908The Wrights finally began to receive credit and attentionfor their invention. Submitting a bid to the Army for a mil-itary flying machine, Orville brought a Flyer to Fort Myer,Virginia; passed the trials; and won a contract for theworld’s first military airplane. Later that year, the planecrashed after a propeller failure, seriously injuring Orvilleand killing his passenger, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.

1905 Albert Einstein published theory of special relativity 1908 C. F. Cross invented cellophane1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred

were, for the most part, wild and inaccu-rate reports on the front pages of majornewspapers from coast to coast. Whenthey did not follow up with public flights in 1904, the press assumed that the KittyHawk story had been an exaggeration, ifnot a hoax.

Wilbur and Orville Wright pressedahead, moving their experiments closer totheir Dayton, Ohio, home. There, in 1904,in a meadow called Huffman Prairie, theybuilt the Wright Flyer II, the first airplaneto fly a circle in the air. The Flyer III fol-lowed in 1905, a plane that could stayin the air for over half anhour, turn, bank, and flyfigure eights. TheWrights were deter-mined not to fly inpublic until they hadreceived the protec-tion of a patent and

manufacturer in the world. They alsoformed one of the earliest exhibitionteams, flying in various venues where theycould publicize and market their planes.

Orville continued to fly through 13 May1918, six years after Wilbur’s death fromtyphoid fever. He sold his interest in theirbusiness in 1915 but remained activelyengaged in other related pursuits, amongthem an ongoing disagreement with theSmithsonian Institution over who had beenthe first capable of flight, the Wrights orSamuel Langley. The Smithsonian hadoriginally given the nod to Langley butlater acquiesced in favor of the Wrightbrothers. When Orville Wright died in1948, he had seen many of the advancesin aviation that were a direct result of thework he and his brother had accomplished.

76 For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. —Wilbur Wright

Left: Orville Wright; right: Wilbur Wright. NASA Langley Research Center.

Below: Wilbur Wright attempted the first powered flight on 14 December 1903. National Air and Space Museum #A-38618A ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Above: Facsimile of the telegram sent byOrville Wright on 17 December 1903, reproduced in commemoration of the ninetieth anniversary of piloted, controlled,powered flight. Note the error in the spelling of Orville Wright’s name and the error in listing the air time. The longest flight was actually 59 seconds.

1902 Aswan Dam in Egypt completed

■ Only eleven years old in August 1914,the fragile airplane in its role as anobserver contributed significantly to themurderous carnage that characterizedcombat in World War I.

The great killer of the war was artillery,and aerial reconnaissance vastly increasedartillery’s effectiveness. Observation air-craft photographed and mapped trenches

and military positions, reported transienttargets, and provided direct control forartillery batteries. Further, aircraft photo-graphs and reports enabled commandersto identify the enemy’s position, deter-mine his strength, surmise his intentions,and organize their response to besteffect.

The need to protect one’s own obser-vation aircraft or deny the air to the enemyquickly led to a quest for control of theair. In 1915, an asynchronization or“interrupter” mechanism allowed machineguns to fire through a spinning propeller,enabling the pilot to aim the entire airplane.This ability gave birth to the “pursuit” orfighter. To gain superiority in the air, theairplane now hunted other airplanes.Over time, this new role demanded more sophisticated machines and com-bat techniques, and the men who flewthe machines, as well as the machinesthemselves, became famous, dramaticsymbols of knightly combat.

Soon, the airplane was also used as a bomber. Initially, pilots simply tossedsmall, handheld bombs or even darts

1909July 25 The first flight across the English Channel byLouis Blériot.

The U.S. Army accepted delivery of the first military planeand paid the Wright brothers $30,000 for it.

1911September 29 Walter Brookins set American record byflying 192 miles from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois,making two stops.

December 10 Cal Rodgers completed the first trans-continental flight in the Wright EX Vin Fiz.

1912April 16 American Harriet Quimby became the firstfemale pilot to fly a plane across the English Channel.

May 30 Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever.

1909 NAACP founded 1911 Ragtime popularized for mass audiences

from the cockpit. But the potential ofdestruction from the air quickly led to larger,more powerful, often multi-engine air-planes designed specifically for bombing.The size of the bombs themselves grewrapidly, and mechanical sights enabled air-craft to hit targets more accurately andfrom higher altitudes. Most aerial bom-bardment targeted enemy troops andfacilities along the front, but the airplanealso allowed the war to be carried to man-ufacturing and population centers far behindthe lines. In 1915, Germany began Zeppelinraids against England. The Zeppelins—large,slow, rigid airships filled with explosivehydrogen gas—ultimately proved vulner-able to aerial defenses and were graduallyreplaced by giant multi-engine strategicbombers, the vanguard of future war.

By 11 November 1918, the end of thewar, commanders had explored almostevery role that the airplane would play inthe future except global air transport.Although the airplane was not the deci-sive weapon of World War I, it haddemonstrated its potential to change theway wars were fought.

World War I: The First Air War

The Fokker was flown by the “Red Baron.”

National Air and Space Museum#00046729 ©2002

Smithsonian Institution

Britain’s Sopwith Camel, a single-seat fighter introduced in 1917, was armed with two guns andcould also carry four small bombs. The Camel scored more victories against German aircraft thanany other Allied plane in World War I. National Air & Space Museum #85-11071 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

The Flying Aces ■ French newsmen crowned AdolphePégoud the first “flying ace” in 1915. InFrance and England, the title came toidentify a pilot who had shot down fiveenemy airplanes. The Germans adopted asimilar system that required ten victories.In any case, the airmen, especially thefighter pilots, quickly emerged as thegreat heroes of an unheroic war. TheGerman airman Manfred von Richthofen,the “Red Baron,” led the pack with a totalof 80 victories. The French ace RenéFonck survived the war with 75 victories.With 58 victories, Edward “Mick”Mannock was England’s most victoriousace, despite an infection that had causedhim to experience temporary blindnessand subsequent trouble seeing out of hisleft eye. Captain Edward Rickenbacker, aMedal of Honor winner and America’s“Ace of Aces,” scored 26 victories duringa relatively short career as a combat pilotin 1918.

1914January The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line becamethe world’s first regularly scheduled airline service.

Two-way radio contact was accomplished between pilotand ground control.

1915March 3 The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(NACA), the first U.S. government-sponsored organization insupport of aviation research and development, was formed.

Orville Wright sold his interest in the Wright Company,then retired.

1918May The United States Post Office inaugurated airmail service from the Polo Grounds, Washington, DC.

1914 Panama Canal opened 1917 U.S. entered World War I1916 Lincoln Logs invented

and mountain peaks meant thatonly the most diligent of pilotswould prevail.

While it may sound romantic,even exciting, this was a very ineffi-cient way to deliver the mail, andby the mid-1920s, with the advent ofeffective navigational aids, better andmore reliable communications andweather reporting systems, and enclosedaircraft with greater ceilings and all-weather capability, things began tochange. The emphasis was on safety andreliability as well as expansion as thepostal service worked to increase effi-ciency. Their next step was to undertakenight operations, which required specialsearchlights to guide pilots, aircraft wingtipflares for forced landings, landing fieldslarge enough to ensure adequate room forlandings, searchlights actually mounted onairmail airplanes, and radio communica-tions and other flight instruments. By 1924,the first coast-to-coast, day-and-nightairmail service had been established.

In 1930, Congress passed legislationthat allowed President Herbert Hoover’sPostmaster General, Walter Folger

Flying the MailThe Origins of Airmail in the United States

Brown, to reshapethe air routes.Exercising near-dic-tatorial powers,Brown engineered themerger of several carriers tocreate a national air system. From thesemergers, the four major U.S. airlines—TWA, American Airlines, United Airlines,and Northwest Airlines—emerged andestablished an integrated transcontinen-tal route system.

Income from airmail contracts breathedlife into the country’s fledgling commer-cial aviation industry in the 1920s and1930s. Despite the Great Depression,the expansion continued through theWorld War II era, partly as a result oftechnological improvements in aircraftthat allowed more economical operations.

Today, airmail is still an important marketfor the air transport industry, and airlinerscontinue to carry mail as part of their cargo.

8 Airmail was an impractical sort of fad and had no place in the serious job of postal transportation. —Col. Paul Henderson, U.S. 2nd Asst. Postmaster General, 1919 9

NACA: A Tradition of Excellence

■ Spurred by the beginning of World War Iand a heightened interest in aviationresearch, the United States Congress created the National Advisory Committeefor Aeronautics (NACA) in 1915. In its earlydays, the NACA concentrated on problemsrelated to military aviation. When the warended, however, the engineers of the newlyconstructed Langley Memorial AeronauticalLaboratory in Hampton, Virginia, turnedtheir attention to the solution of a broadrange of problems in flight technology.

During the 1920s and 1930s, NACAengineers built a reputation for excellencein research and achieved a host of criticalbreakthroughs resulting in increased per-formance. The NACA contributed to victoryin WWII and pioneered the postwarresearch that transformed the airplaneinto a high-speed, high-altitude aero-space vehicle.

NACA would expand to encompass threeresearch centers: Langley, Ames ResearchCenter in California, and Lewis ResearchCenter in Ohio; by 1958, these wouldemploy over 8,000 people with a budgetof over $117 million. They would contributeto the development or improvement of

every American aircraft produced duringthis time. NACA engineers and scientistswere responsible for the basic and appliedresearch that led to the development ofaircraft structures, safety, fluid dynamics,aerodynamics, ground test facilities (includ-ing the slotted-throat wind tunnel), flight-testing, high-speed flight from theory topractice (including the area rule to the X-1and lifting body aircraft). The NACA was tomake advancements and contributions inevery field associated with aeronauticsand the fledgling field of spaceflight.

1912 Girl Scouts chartered

■ One of the first federal agencies torecognize the valuable role airplanes couldplay was the U.S. Post Office. Faster maildelivery and increased reliability werebecoming increasingly important to busi-ness people across the country, and theypressed the post office for the service.

On 15 May 1918, the first official airmail flight in the U.S. left Washington,DC, heading for New York with 140 poundsof mail on board. Although the flight wasnot flawless, it proved the concept.

Within two years, a growing structureconnected cities along the Atlantic seaboardwith Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago,thereby developing a relatively efficient air-mail system in the eastern United States.In 1921, a transcontinental airmail routebetween San Francisco and New Yorkwas also established.

Although these flights between citiesoccurred routinely, the pilots, flying inopen-cockpit aircraft, faced not only diffi-cult weather conditions, but also narrowmountain passes and rugged terrain. Theyneeded to climb thousands of feet abovesea level, heights at which sudden snow-storms, erratic winds, subzero temperatures,

Airmail stamps.

■ Only eleven years old in August 1914,the fragile airplane in its role as anobserver contributed significantly to themurderous carnage that characterizedcombat in World War I.

The great killer of the war was artillery,and aerial reconnaissance vastly increasedartillery’s effectiveness. Observation air-craft photographed and mapped trenches

and military positions, reported transienttargets, and provided direct control forartillery batteries. Further, aircraft photo-graphs and reports enabled commandersto identify the enemy’s position, deter-mine his strength, surmise his intentions,and organize their response to besteffect.

The need to protect one’s own obser-vation aircraft or deny the air to the enemyquickly led to a quest for control of theair. In 1915, an asynchronization or“interrupter” mechanism allowed machineguns to fire through a spinning propeller,enabling the pilot to aim the entire airplane.This ability gave birth to the “pursuit” orfighter. To gain superiority in the air, theairplane now hunted other airplanes.Over time, this new role demanded more sophisticated machines and com-bat techniques, and the men who flewthe machines, as well as the machinesthemselves, became famous, dramaticsymbols of knightly combat.

Soon, the airplane was also used as a bomber. Initially, pilots simply tossedsmall, handheld bombs or even darts

1909July 25 The first flight across the English Channel byLouis Blériot.

The U.S. Army accepted delivery of the first military planeand paid the Wright brothers $30,000 for it.

1911September 29 Walter Brookins set American record byflying 192 miles from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois,making two stops.

December 10 Cal Rodgers completed the first trans-continental flight in the Wright EX Vin Fiz.

1912April 16 American Harriet Quimby became the firstfemale pilot to fly a plane across the English Channel.

May 30 Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever.

1909 NAACP founded 1911 Ragtime popularized for mass audiences

from the cockpit. But the potential ofdestruction from the air quickly led to larger,more powerful, often multi-engine air-planes designed specifically for bombing.The size of the bombs themselves grewrapidly, and mechanical sights enabled air-craft to hit targets more accurately andfrom higher altitudes. Most aerial bom-bardment targeted enemy troops andfacilities along the front, but the airplanealso allowed the war to be carried to man-ufacturing and population centers far behindthe lines. In 1915, Germany began Zeppelinraids against England. The Zeppelins—large,slow, rigid airships filled with explosivehydrogen gas—ultimately proved vulner-able to aerial defenses and were graduallyreplaced by giant multi-engine strategicbombers, the vanguard of future war.

By 11 November 1918, the end of thewar, commanders had explored almostevery role that the airplane would play inthe future except global air transport.Although the airplane was not the deci-sive weapon of World War I, it haddemonstrated its potential to change theway wars were fought.

World War I: The First Air War

The Fokker was flown by the “Red Baron.”

National Air and Space Museum#00046729 ©2002

Smithsonian Institution

Britain’s Sopwith Camel, a single-seat fighter introduced in 1917, was armed with two guns andcould also carry four small bombs. The Camel scored more victories against German aircraft thanany other Allied plane in World War I. National Air & Space Museum #85-11071 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

The Flying Aces ■ French newsmen crowned AdolphePégoud the first “flying ace” in 1915. InFrance and England, the title came toidentify a pilot who had shot down fiveenemy airplanes. The Germans adopted asimilar system that required ten victories.In any case, the airmen, especially thefighter pilots, quickly emerged as thegreat heroes of an unheroic war. TheGerman airman Manfred von Richthofen,the “Red Baron,” led the pack with a totalof 80 victories. The French ace RenéFonck survived the war with 75 victories.With 58 victories, Edward “Mick”Mannock was England’s most victoriousace, despite an infection that had causedhim to experience temporary blindnessand subsequent trouble seeing out of hisleft eye. Captain Edward Rickenbacker, aMedal of Honor winner and America’s“Ace of Aces,” scored 26 victories duringa relatively short career as a combat pilotin 1918.

1914January The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line becamethe world’s first regularly scheduled airline service.

Two-way radio contact was accomplished between pilotand ground control.

1915March 3 The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(NACA), the first U.S. government-sponsored organization insupport of aviation research and development, was formed.

Orville Wright sold his interest in the Wright Company,then retired.

1918May The United States Post Office inaugurated airmail service from the Polo Grounds, Washington, DC.

1914 Panama Canal opened 1917 U.S. entered World War I1916 Lincoln Logs invented

and mountain peaks meant thatonly the most diligent of pilotswould prevail.

While it may sound romantic,even exciting, this was a very ineffi-cient way to deliver the mail, andby the mid-1920s, with the advent ofeffective navigational aids, better andmore reliable communications andweather reporting systems, and enclosedaircraft with greater ceilings and all-weather capability, things began tochange. The emphasis was on safety andreliability as well as expansion as thepostal service worked to increase effi-ciency. Their next step was to undertakenight operations, which required specialsearchlights to guide pilots, aircraft wingtipflares for forced landings, landing fieldslarge enough to ensure adequate room forlandings, searchlights actually mounted onairmail airplanes, and radio communica-tions and other flight instruments. By 1924,the first coast-to-coast, day-and-nightairmail service had been established.

In 1930, Congress passed legislationthat allowed President Herbert Hoover’sPostmaster General, Walter Folger

Flying the MailThe Origins of Airmail in the United States

Brown, to reshapethe air routes.Exercising near-dic-tatorial powers,Brown engineered themerger of several carriers tocreate a national air system. From thesemergers, the four major U.S. airlines—TWA, American Airlines, United Airlines,and Northwest Airlines—emerged andestablished an integrated transcontinen-tal route system.

Income from airmail contracts breathedlife into the country’s fledgling commer-cial aviation industry in the 1920s and1930s. Despite the Great Depression,the expansion continued through theWorld War II era, partly as a result oftechnological improvements in aircraftthat allowed more economical operations.

Today, airmail is still an important marketfor the air transport industry, and airlinerscontinue to carry mail as part of their cargo.

8 Airmail was an impractical sort of fad and had no place in the serious job of postal transportation. —Col. Paul Henderson, U.S. 2nd Asst. Postmaster General, 1919 9

NACA: A Tradition of Excellence

■ Spurred by the beginning of World War Iand a heightened interest in aviationresearch, the United States Congress created the National Advisory Committeefor Aeronautics (NACA) in 1915. In its earlydays, the NACA concentrated on problemsrelated to military aviation. When the warended, however, the engineers of the newlyconstructed Langley Memorial AeronauticalLaboratory in Hampton, Virginia, turnedtheir attention to the solution of a broadrange of problems in flight technology.

During the 1920s and 1930s, NACAengineers built a reputation for excellencein research and achieved a host of criticalbreakthroughs resulting in increased per-formance. The NACA contributed to victoryin WWII and pioneered the postwarresearch that transformed the airplaneinto a high-speed, high-altitude aero-space vehicle.

NACA would expand to encompass threeresearch centers: Langley, Ames ResearchCenter in California, and Lewis ResearchCenter in Ohio; by 1958, these wouldemploy over 8,000 people with a budgetof over $117 million. They would contributeto the development or improvement of

every American aircraft produced duringthis time. NACA engineers and scientistswere responsible for the basic and appliedresearch that led to the development ofaircraft structures, safety, fluid dynamics,aerodynamics, ground test facilities (includ-ing the slotted-throat wind tunnel), flight-testing, high-speed flight from theory topractice (including the area rule to the X-1and lifting body aircraft). The NACA was tomake advancements and contributions inevery field associated with aeronauticsand the fledgling field of spaceflight.

1912 Girl Scouts chartered

■ One of the first federal agencies torecognize the valuable role airplanes couldplay was the U.S. Post Office. Faster maildelivery and increased reliability werebecoming increasingly important to busi-ness people across the country, and theypressed the post office for the service.

On 15 May 1918, the first official airmail flight in the U.S. left Washington,DC, heading for New York with 140 poundsof mail on board. Although the flight wasnot flawless, it proved the concept.

Within two years, a growing structureconnected cities along the Atlantic seaboardwith Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago,thereby developing a relatively efficient air-mail system in the eastern United States.In 1921, a transcontinental airmail routebetween San Francisco and New Yorkwas also established.

Although these flights between citiesoccurred routinely, the pilots, flying inopen-cockpit aircraft, faced not only diffi-cult weather conditions, but also narrowmountain passes and rugged terrain. Theyneeded to climb thousands of feet abovesea level, heights at which sudden snow-storms, erratic winds, subzero temperatures,

Airmail stamps.

■ Charles Lindbergh was only 22 monthsold in 1903 when the Wright brothers liftedtheir Wright Flyer off the ground at KillDevil Hills, North Carolina. That eventshaped Lindbergh’s life. Twenty-four yearslater, Lindbergh forever changed avia-tion—and the world’s passion for flying—when he became the first person to flysolo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.

When he made the 3,600-mile flightfrom New York to Paris, the young manfrom Minnesota became an instant hero.He landed his high-wing monoplane, theSpirit of St. Louis, in Paris on 21 May1927 to the cheers of 100,000 people.Blessed with movie-star good looks,resolute courage, and a passionfor aviation, Lindbergh capturedthe world’s imagination. Hislove for flying was infectious,and its impact on popularculture was legendary.

Lindbergh and his exploitsinspired everything fromclocks and lamps to movies,books, plays, musical compo-sitions, tapestries, andall manner of othermemorabilia. A populardance called the “LindyHop” was also namedafter him.

There is no doubtabout Lindbergh’sinstant fame. Following

TheGoldenAge of Aviation■ Once airplanes became an acceptedpart of both the American and theEuropean landscapes, appreciated primarily for what they could do, a different kind of flying fever began tospread. The focus shifted to practicaluses for airplanes. As adventurous menand women soon learned, planes couldaccomplish a lot of things.

Planes could be very entertaining. Theycould spin, dive, and fly upside down.Daredevil men and women walked ontheir wings and hung from underneaththem, tempting fate and thrilling specta-tors who watched, amazed, from thegrandstands. The skepticism so prevalentjust a few years earlier was over, and therace was on.

Competitions offered cash prizes andtrophies for speed, distance, and altitude.World records were set and broken, oftenby women competing not just against eachother but also against men. A number ofthese men and women were made famousby their flying exploits—Charles Lindbergh,Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Jimmy Doolittle,and Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran.

This new love affair with flying eveninspired songs, poems, posters, and(later) movies. Everyone, it seemed, was caught up in the excitement.

It was also an era of more firsts.Planes were now flying coast to coast,across the Atlantic, over the North Pole,then the South Pole, then around theworld—a world that was getting smallerwith each fantastic feat. During its goldenage, aviation gleamed as brightly asanyone could have imagined, and theairplane had become as versatile as itwas indispensable.

his flight, Lindbergh chose to use hisnewfound fame to promote what he wasmost passionate about—aviation. Afterreturning from Paris, he flew the Spirit ofSt. Louis across the United States forthree months to promote aviation andinspire support for its development.

Later that year, he toured Central andSouth America for Pan American Airwayswith the same mission; while in Mexico,he met his future wife, Anne Morrow.

In the mid-1930s, the U.S. govern-ment asked Lindbergh to travel toGermany to learn about German airpower, and the famed aviator sent back

detailed information.During World War II, he

was a technical advisorin the South Pacific.While there, he alsoflew in a number ofcombat missions andconducted training ses-sions for Marine pilots.

After the war,Lindbergh became aconsultant to severalcommercial airlines andaided in the develop-ment of commercialaviation. Later, inEurope, he examinedenemy aircraft.

Charles A. Lindbergh, the “LoneEagle,” set records and affected popular culture as no other flyer did.

National Air and Space Museum #89-10 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Lindbergh— An American Eagle

10

■ Rheims, France, provided the settingfor the first international aviation meet in1909, a competition that attractednumerous flyers from Europe and oneAmerican entry, Glenn Curtiss, who hadhis eye on the Gordon Bennett Trophy.

In his Rheims Racer, Curtiss set a newworld record, making his speed run at46.5 miles per hour. By beating his clos-est competition, Frenchman Louis Blériot,by a mere six seconds, Curtiss won thetrophy he desired.

Other air races and trophies beckonedother pilots. In 1913, the SchneiderTrophy lured high-speed seaplanes to a course that covered 350 kilometers.With an average speed of 46 miles perhour, France won the first of these races.American Jimmy Doolittle won in 1925with a speed of 233 miles per hour. WhenGreat Britain won the trophy in 1931, theaverage speed had increased to 340miles per hour. The drive to win helpedpropel technical improvements and thedevelopment of sleeker, faster aircraft.

The Pulitzer races of the 1920s were ashowcase for the U.S. Armed Forces, butit was the Bendix races in the 1930s thatgave female aviators their chance to shineand, in some cases, to outshine their

I don’t believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all. —Charles A. Lindbergh, after his transatlantic flight

1924September 28 The first round-the-world flight was com-pleted in Seattle, Washington, by three two-seat DouglasWorld Cruisers of the U.S. Army Air Service.

1926May 9 Commander Richard E. Byrd and pilot FloydBennett announced the first flight over the North Pole.

March 16 Robert Goddard built and flew the world’s firstliquid propellant rocket near Worcester, Massachusetts.

1927May 20–21 Charles Lindbergh made the first solo flightacross the Atlantic aboard the Spirit of St. Louis.

1928May 31–June 9 Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles T. P. Ulm made the first trans-Pacific flight from California to Australia.

1926 First Winnie-the-Pooh book published

Bendix Trophy.National Air and Space Museum

#93-5512 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Thompson Trophy.National Air and Space Museum

#93-5513 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

male competitors. In 1936, LouiseThaden flew between Los Angeles andCleveland in just under 15 hours to takethe prize. Jackie Cochran won the race in1938, beating nine men.

Between 1929 and 1949, theCleveland Air Races attracted suchnames as Charles Lindbergh, JimmyDoolittle, Jackie Cochran, Amelia Earhart,and Wiley Post to the skies over thisOhio city’s airport. There, giants of the aircompeted for the Thompson and Bendixtrophies, thrilling the crowds and helpingto define aviation during its golden age.Air races are still held throughout theworld today.

AirRacing:Flying’sGoldenAge

Tickets and programs likethese were prized by aviation fans throughoutthe 1920s and 1930s.

National Air and Space Museum #93-15838, #2000-2373©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Lindbergh and his exploits inspired movies, books, plays, musical compositions, and all manner of other memorabilia. Poems were written, and hundreds of songs such as “Lucky Lindy” became popular.

Bella Landauer Sheet Music Collection, SIL7-1-023aNational Air and Space Museum ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

1924 First Winter Olympics

11

The Spirit of St. Louis. NASA Langley Research Center

For the GreatestAchievement: ■ The Collier Trophy was established in1911 by Robert J. Collier, publisher andearly president of the Aero Club of America.The trophy is awarded annually for “thegreatest achievement in aeronautics orastronautics in America, with respect toimproving the performance, efficiency, andsafety of air or space vehicles, the value ofwhich has been thoroughly demonstratedby actual use during the preceding year.”It represents the most prestigious awardoffered in the United States for excellencein aerospace research and developmentand is administered by the NationalAeronautic Association. It is named afterRobert J. Collier, who stated, “The flyingmachine should be unselfishly and rapidlydeveloped to its potential for America’seconomic advancement.” As a demonstra-

tion of his belief, he was the first personto purchase an airplane for private use

from the Wright brothers. The firstwinner of the trophy was GlennCurtiss, followed by the top indi-viduals and organizations in theaerospace industry. NACA

received its first trophy in 1929for its research and develop-

ment of a new cowling.

1923May 2–3 First nonstop coast-to-coast airplane flight took place between New York and San Diego—26 hours,50 minutes.

June 27 First in-flight refueling occurred over San Diego, California.

1920February 22 The first transcontinental mail servicearrived in New York from San Francisco.

1927 Television invented

1921June 15 Bessie Coleman became the first AfricanAmerican woman to receive a Fédération AéronautiqueInternationale (FAI) pilot’s license.

Right: Collier trophy.

■ Charles Lindbergh was only 22 monthsold in 1903 when the Wright brothers liftedtheir Wright Flyer off the ground at KillDevil Hills, North Carolina. That eventshaped Lindbergh’s life. Twenty-four yearslater, Lindbergh forever changed avia-tion—and the world’s passion for flying—when he became the first person to flysolo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.

When he made the 3,600-mile flightfrom New York to Paris, the young manfrom Minnesota became an instant hero.He landed his high-wing monoplane, theSpirit of St. Louis, in Paris on 21 May1927 to the cheers of 100,000 people.Blessed with movie-star good looks,resolute courage, and a passionfor aviation, Lindbergh capturedthe world’s imagination. Hislove for flying was infectious,and its impact on popularculture was legendary.

Lindbergh and his exploitsinspired everything fromclocks and lamps to movies,books, plays, musical compo-sitions, tapestries, andall manner of othermemorabilia. A populardance called the “LindyHop” was also namedafter him.

There is no doubtabout Lindbergh’sinstant fame. Following

TheGoldenAge of Aviation■ Once airplanes became an acceptedpart of both the American and theEuropean landscapes, appreciated primarily for what they could do, a different kind of flying fever began tospread. The focus shifted to practicaluses for airplanes. As adventurous menand women soon learned, planes couldaccomplish a lot of things.

Planes could be very entertaining. Theycould spin, dive, and fly upside down.Daredevil men and women walked ontheir wings and hung from underneaththem, tempting fate and thrilling specta-tors who watched, amazed, from thegrandstands. The skepticism so prevalentjust a few years earlier was over, and therace was on.

Competitions offered cash prizes andtrophies for speed, distance, and altitude.World records were set and broken, oftenby women competing not just against eachother but also against men. A number ofthese men and women were made famousby their flying exploits—Charles Lindbergh,Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Jimmy Doolittle,and Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran.

This new love affair with flying eveninspired songs, poems, posters, and(later) movies. Everyone, it seemed, was caught up in the excitement.

It was also an era of more firsts.Planes were now flying coast to coast,across the Atlantic, over the North Pole,then the South Pole, then around theworld—a world that was getting smallerwith each fantastic feat. During its goldenage, aviation gleamed as brightly asanyone could have imagined, and theairplane had become as versatile as itwas indispensable.

his flight, Lindbergh chose to use hisnewfound fame to promote what he wasmost passionate about—aviation. Afterreturning from Paris, he flew the Spirit ofSt. Louis across the United States forthree months to promote aviation andinspire support for its development.

Later that year, he toured Central andSouth America for Pan American Airwayswith the same mission; while in Mexico,he met his future wife, Anne Morrow.

In the mid-1930s, the U.S. govern-ment asked Lindbergh to travel toGermany to learn about German airpower, and the famed aviator sent back

detailed information.During World War II, he

was a technical advisorin the South Pacific.While there, he alsoflew in a number ofcombat missions andconducted training ses-sions for Marine pilots.

After the war,Lindbergh became aconsultant to severalcommercial airlines andaided in the develop-ment of commercialaviation. Later, inEurope, he examinedenemy aircraft.

Charles A. Lindbergh, the “LoneEagle,” set records and affected popular culture as no other flyer did.

National Air and Space Museum #89-10 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Lindbergh— An American Eagle

10

■ Rheims, France, provided the settingfor the first international aviation meet in1909, a competition that attractednumerous flyers from Europe and oneAmerican entry, Glenn Curtiss, who hadhis eye on the Gordon Bennett Trophy.

In his Rheims Racer, Curtiss set a newworld record, making his speed run at46.5 miles per hour. By beating his clos-est competition, Frenchman Louis Blériot,by a mere six seconds, Curtiss won thetrophy he desired.

Other air races and trophies beckonedother pilots. In 1913, the SchneiderTrophy lured high-speed seaplanes to a course that covered 350 kilometers.With an average speed of 46 miles perhour, France won the first of these races.American Jimmy Doolittle won in 1925with a speed of 233 miles per hour. WhenGreat Britain won the trophy in 1931, theaverage speed had increased to 340miles per hour. The drive to win helpedpropel technical improvements and thedevelopment of sleeker, faster aircraft.

The Pulitzer races of the 1920s were ashowcase for the U.S. Armed Forces, butit was the Bendix races in the 1930s thatgave female aviators their chance to shineand, in some cases, to outshine their

I don’t believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all. —Charles A. Lindbergh, after his transatlantic flight

1924September 28 The first round-the-world flight was com-pleted in Seattle, Washington, by three two-seat DouglasWorld Cruisers of the U.S. Army Air Service.

1926May 9 Commander Richard E. Byrd and pilot FloydBennett announced the first flight over the North Pole.

March 16 Robert Goddard built and flew the world’s firstliquid propellant rocket near Worcester, Massachusetts.

1927May 20–21 Charles Lindbergh made the first solo flightacross the Atlantic aboard the Spirit of St. Louis.

1928May 31–June 9 Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles T. P. Ulm made the first trans-Pacific flight from California to Australia.

1926 First Winnie-the-Pooh book published

Bendix Trophy.National Air and Space Museum

#93-5512 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Thompson Trophy.National Air and Space Museum

#93-5513 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

male competitors. In 1936, LouiseThaden flew between Los Angeles andCleveland in just under 15 hours to takethe prize. Jackie Cochran won the race in1938, beating nine men.

Between 1929 and 1949, theCleveland Air Races attracted suchnames as Charles Lindbergh, JimmyDoolittle, Jackie Cochran, Amelia Earhart,and Wiley Post to the skies over thisOhio city’s airport. There, giants of the aircompeted for the Thompson and Bendixtrophies, thrilling the crowds and helpingto define aviation during its golden age.Air races are still held throughout theworld today.

AirRacing:Flying’sGoldenAge

Tickets and programs likethese were prized by aviation fans throughoutthe 1920s and 1930s.

National Air and Space Museum #93-15838, #2000-2373©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Lindbergh and his exploits inspired movies, books, plays, musical compositions, and all manner of other memorabilia. Poems were written, and hundreds of songs such as “Lucky Lindy” became popular.

Bella Landauer Sheet Music Collection, SIL7-1-023aNational Air and Space Museum ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

1924 First Winter Olympics

11

The Spirit of St. Louis. NASA Langley Research Center

For the GreatestAchievement: ■ The Collier Trophy was established in1911 by Robert J. Collier, publisher andearly president of the Aero Club of America.The trophy is awarded annually for “thegreatest achievement in aeronautics orastronautics in America, with respect toimproving the performance, efficiency, andsafety of air or space vehicles, the value ofwhich has been thoroughly demonstratedby actual use during the preceding year.”It represents the most prestigious awardoffered in the United States for excellencein aerospace research and developmentand is administered by the NationalAeronautic Association. It is named afterRobert J. Collier, who stated, “The flyingmachine should be unselfishly and rapidlydeveloped to its potential for America’seconomic advancement.” As a demonstra-

tion of his belief, he was the first personto purchase an airplane for private use

from the Wright brothers. The firstwinner of the trophy was GlennCurtiss, followed by the top indi-viduals and organizations in theaerospace industry. NACA

received its first trophy in 1929for its research and develop-

ment of a new cowling.

1923May 2–3 First nonstop coast-to-coast airplane flight took place between New York and San Diego—26 hours,50 minutes.

June 27 First in-flight refueling occurred over San Diego, California.

1920February 22 The first transcontinental mail servicearrived in New York from San Francisco.

1927 Television invented

1921June 15 Bessie Coleman became the first AfricanAmerican woman to receive a Fédération AéronautiqueInternationale (FAI) pilot’s license.

Right: Collier trophy.

In 1937, Earhartembarked upon a jour-ney that, had it beensuccessful, would havegiven her the distinctionof being the first womanto fly around the world.The mystery of her dis-appearance during thatflight, along with that ofher navigator and plane,remains to this day amatter of debate. It wasGeraldine Mock who, in1964, flying a single-engine Cessna 180,completed this circumnavigation, becom-ing the first woman to do so.

Amelia Earhart also has the distinctionof being the first president of The Ninety-Nines, an organization that was formed in1929 and still exists today. The namecomes from the total number of the group’scharter members, licensed female pilotswho came together to create an entitythat would help advance aviation and pro-vide a vehicle for female pilots to supporteach other. Today, The Ninety-Nines, Inc.,boasts over 6,500 members worldwide.

Jackie Cochran, a former beauticianfrom Florida, served as president of theNinety-Nines between 1941 and 1943.She was also the first female pilot to ferrya bomber across the Atlantic, and in1943, she was appointed director of theWomen’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).The WASPs were approximately 1,000civilian women who, as the United Statesentered World War II, delivered aircraft tocombat areas all over the world. Thoughthe program was deactivated only sixteenmonths after its inception, it was and stillis considered a success. Cochran wasawarded the Distinguished Service Medaland the USAF Legion of Merit for her service.

Rightfully called America’s leadingfemale pilot, Cochran is also remembered

First Ladiesof Flight■ The role women have played in theprogress of aviation is punctuated by theachievements, many of them “firsts,” ofhundreds of brave and determined aero-nautical pioneers.

These pioneers included women likeJuanita Pritchard Bailey, the first womanto fly a plane solo from the United Statesto Panama, and Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout,who, in 1929, became the first womanto complete an all-night flight.

The following year, Amy Johnson, con-sidered by many to be Britain’s mostfamous female pilot, became the firstwoman to fly alone from England toAustralia. In 1931, Anne MorrowLindbergh, wife of Charles Lindbergh,

became the first woman to receive aglider pilot’s license.

But even before the considerableaccomplishments of these women,Alabama-born Katherine Stinson was well on her way to a series of “firsts” all her own. In 1912, Stinson becamethe fourth woman to be issued a pilot’slicense. In 1913, she became the firstwoman to carry the U.S. mail; in 1915,she became the first woman to performan aerial loop-the-loop. That same year, Stinson became the first woman to skywrite.

The honor of being the first woman tofly across the Atlantic belongs to AmeliaEarhart, although on the first trip, shewas a passenger. In 1932, however, shewas at the controls and became the firstwoman to make the trip solo. Later, shewas also the first woman to earn theDistinguished Flying Cross.

1935November 22 Pan American Airways made the firstPacific mail service route, leaving San Francisco with111,000 letters.

1935December The first Douglas DC-3 flew. By 1938, it car-ried the bulk of American air traffic.

December 1 The first airway traffic control center wentinto operation.

1939June 28 Pan American Airways flew the first transatlanticpassenger service.

1935 Watson Watt built RADAR device 1939 World War II began

as the first woman tobreak the sound barrier;she did that in 1953.

Years before this, in1921, Bessie Colemanbroke the color barrierand became the first

African American female pilot. Texas-bornColeman, who had grown up amidstpoverty and discrimination, overcame twomajor hurdles in her goal to become apilot: she was a woman and she wasAfrican American. Undeterred, she went to France, where a more liberal outlookprevailed. In 1921, the Fédération Aéro-nautique Internationale awarded her thepilot’s license she had dreamed about.

For Earhart, Cochran, Coleman, andthe many other women who achieved so much in aerospace—from ValentinaTereshkova, the first woman in space, toEileen Collins, the first female pilot andcommander of the Space Shuttle—per-haps it is Harriet Quimby to whom theyall owe a debt of gratitude. In 1911,Quimby became the first Americanwoman to receive a pilot’slicense. In 1912, shewas the first womanto fly across theEnglish Channel, atrip she made injust over an hour.

Today, of theapproximately 635,000pilots in the United States, over37,000 of them are women, enthusiasti-

1928June 28–29 Albert Hegenberger and Lester Maitlandaccomplished the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific.

1929November 28–29 Commander Richard E. Byrd completedthe first flight over the South Pole.

1929Fritz von Opel of Germany flew the first rocket-poweredplane for 1 minute, 15 seconds.

William Green developed the first automatic pilot used onan airliner.

1931June 23–July 1 Wiley Post and Harold Gatty completedthe first circumnavigation of the world by a lone aircraft.

1932May 20–21 Amelia Earhart became the first woman tofly solo across the Atlantic.

1931 Empire State Building completed1929 Great Depression began with stock market crash 1936 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind

Jackie Cochran was awarded medals for her work with the WASPs. Referring to herexperience with the group, she said, “We landed planes like the Hurricane and theSpitfire in fields where I wouldn’t land my Lodestar today if I could avoid it.”

National Air and Space Museum #80-16081 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

cally taking up thechallenges towhich HarrietQuimby openedthe door. Each ofthem has helpedprove whatPresidentRoosevelt said in1935 when AmeliaEarhart becamethe first woman to successfully fly fromHawaii to California: “Aviation is a sci-ence which cannot be limited to menonly.” And it hasn’t been.

Amelia Earhart, nicknamed “Lady Lindy,” proved her skill by becoming the first woman to fly soloacross the Atlantic. National Air and Space Museum #381-1431 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

12 Flying might not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price. —Amelia Earhart

Left: Bessie Coleman became the first African American female pilot when shereceived her pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.National Air and Space Museum #80-12873 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Right: Eileen Collins was the first female pilot of the Space Shuttle (missions STS-63 and STS-84) and the first female commander of the Space Shuttle(mission STS-93).

13

1928 First scheduled television broadcast

Origins of the U.S. Air Force■ U.S. Army leaders were never as back-ward about accepting aviation as traditionclaims. Many, in fact, had long maintainedan interest in lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air craft. The Signal Corps establisheda balloon section in 1892 and deployed aballoon to Cuba in 1898 during theSpanish-American War. Signal Corps bal-loonists competed in contests and setrecords. Notably, Lieutenant Frank Lahmwon the first Gordon Bennett balloon racein 1906. The Army also developed semi-rigid dirigibles beginning with Signal CorpsDirigible No. 1 in 1908.

As for heavier-than-air craft, Army lead-ers gave Samuel P. Langley $50,000 forconstruction of a full-sized “aerodrome” in1898. Langley failed to fly, but Army inter-est in aviation continued. Its leaders begancorrespondence with the Wright brothers inMay 1907, established an AeronauticalDivision in August, and prepared require-ments for a military airplane in December. The Army accepted the Wrights’ bid inFebruary 1908. Trials began later in theyear, but a crash delayed the results. TheU.S. Army ultimately accepted Signal CorpsNo. 1 on 2 August 1909.

Today’s global U.S. Air Force grew fromthe Aeronautical Division and this first air-plane, but the road to independence wastortuous. The U.S. Army established the AirService in May 1918, and in 1926, the AirService became the U.S. Army Air Corps.Creation of the U.S. Army Air Forces in1941 provided the autonomy necessary forvictory during World War II. The U.S. AirForce achieved full independence on 18September 1947.

U.S. government accepted the Wright aircraft in1909. © Wright State University

In 1937, Earhartembarked upon a jour-ney that, had it beensuccessful, would havegiven her the distinctionof being the first womanto fly around the world.The mystery of her dis-appearance during thatflight, along with that ofher navigator and plane,remains to this day amatter of debate. It wasGeraldine Mock who, in1964, flying a single-engine Cessna 180,completed this circumnavigation, becom-ing the first woman to do so.

Amelia Earhart also has the distinctionof being the first president of The Ninety-Nines, an organization that was formed in1929 and still exists today. The namecomes from the total number of the group’scharter members, licensed female pilotswho came together to create an entitythat would help advance aviation and pro-vide a vehicle for female pilots to supporteach other. Today, The Ninety-Nines, Inc.,boasts over 6,500 members worldwide.

Jackie Cochran, a former beauticianfrom Florida, served as president of theNinety-Nines between 1941 and 1943.She was also the first female pilot to ferrya bomber across the Atlantic, and in1943, she was appointed director of theWomen’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).The WASPs were approximately 1,000civilian women who, as the United Statesentered World War II, delivered aircraft tocombat areas all over the world. Thoughthe program was deactivated only sixteenmonths after its inception, it was and stillis considered a success. Cochran wasawarded the Distinguished Service Medaland the USAF Legion of Merit for her service.

Rightfully called America’s leadingfemale pilot, Cochran is also remembered

First Ladiesof Flight■ The role women have played in theprogress of aviation is punctuated by theachievements, many of them “firsts,” ofhundreds of brave and determined aero-nautical pioneers.

These pioneers included women likeJuanita Pritchard Bailey, the first womanto fly a plane solo from the United Statesto Panama, and Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout,who, in 1929, became the first womanto complete an all-night flight.

The following year, Amy Johnson, con-sidered by many to be Britain’s mostfamous female pilot, became the firstwoman to fly alone from England toAustralia. In 1931, Anne MorrowLindbergh, wife of Charles Lindbergh,

became the first woman to receive aglider pilot’s license.

But even before the considerableaccomplishments of these women,Alabama-born Katherine Stinson was well on her way to a series of “firsts” all her own. In 1912, Stinson becamethe fourth woman to be issued a pilot’slicense. In 1913, she became the firstwoman to carry the U.S. mail; in 1915,she became the first woman to performan aerial loop-the-loop. That same year, Stinson became the first woman to skywrite.

The honor of being the first woman tofly across the Atlantic belongs to AmeliaEarhart, although on the first trip, shewas a passenger. In 1932, however, shewas at the controls and became the firstwoman to make the trip solo. Later, shewas also the first woman to earn theDistinguished Flying Cross.

1935November 22 Pan American Airways made the firstPacific mail service route, leaving San Francisco with111,000 letters.

1935December The first Douglas DC-3 flew. By 1938, it car-ried the bulk of American air traffic.

December 1 The first airway traffic control center wentinto operation.

1939June 28 Pan American Airways flew the first transatlanticpassenger service.

1935 Watson Watt built RADAR device 1939 World War II began

as the first woman tobreak the sound barrier;she did that in 1953.

Years before this, in1921, Bessie Colemanbroke the color barrierand became the first

African American female pilot. Texas-bornColeman, who had grown up amidstpoverty and discrimination, overcame twomajor hurdles in her goal to become apilot: she was a woman and she wasAfrican American. Undeterred, she went to France, where a more liberal outlookprevailed. In 1921, the Fédération Aéro-nautique Internationale awarded her thepilot’s license she had dreamed about.

For Earhart, Cochran, Coleman, andthe many other women who achieved so much in aerospace—from ValentinaTereshkova, the first woman in space, toEileen Collins, the first female pilot andcommander of the Space Shuttle—per-haps it is Harriet Quimby to whom theyall owe a debt of gratitude. In 1911,Quimby became the first Americanwoman to receive a pilot’slicense. In 1912, shewas the first womanto fly across theEnglish Channel, atrip she made injust over an hour.

Today, of theapproximately 635,000pilots in the United States, over37,000 of them are women, enthusiasti-

1928June 28–29 Albert Hegenberger and Lester Maitlandaccomplished the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific.

1929November 28–29 Commander Richard E. Byrd completedthe first flight over the South Pole.

1929Fritz von Opel of Germany flew the first rocket-poweredplane for 1 minute, 15 seconds.

William Green developed the first automatic pilot used onan airliner.

1931June 23–July 1 Wiley Post and Harold Gatty completedthe first circumnavigation of the world by a lone aircraft.

1932May 20–21 Amelia Earhart became the first woman tofly solo across the Atlantic.

1931 Empire State Building completed1929 Great Depression began with stock market crash 1936 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind

Jackie Cochran was awarded medals for her work with the WASPs. Referring to herexperience with the group, she said, “We landed planes like the Hurricane and theSpitfire in fields where I wouldn’t land my Lodestar today if I could avoid it.”

National Air and Space Museum #80-16081 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

cally taking up thechallenges towhich HarrietQuimby openedthe door. Each ofthem has helpedprove whatPresidentRoosevelt said in1935 when AmeliaEarhart becamethe first woman to successfully fly fromHawaii to California: “Aviation is a sci-ence which cannot be limited to menonly.” And it hasn’t been.

Amelia Earhart, nicknamed “Lady Lindy,” proved her skill by becoming the first woman to fly soloacross the Atlantic. National Air and Space Museum #381-1431 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

12 Flying might not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price. —Amelia Earhart

Left: Bessie Coleman became the first African American female pilot when shereceived her pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.National Air and Space Museum #80-12873 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Right: Eileen Collins was the first female pilot of the Space Shuttle (missions STS-63 and STS-84) and the first female commander of the Space Shuttle(mission STS-93).

13

1928 First scheduled television broadcast

Origins of the U.S. Air Force■ U.S. Army leaders were never as back-ward about accepting aviation as traditionclaims. Many, in fact, had long maintainedan interest in lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air craft. The Signal Corps establisheda balloon section in 1892 and deployed aballoon to Cuba in 1898 during theSpanish-American War. Signal Corps bal-loonists competed in contests and setrecords. Notably, Lieutenant Frank Lahmwon the first Gordon Bennett balloon racein 1906. The Army also developed semi-rigid dirigibles beginning with Signal CorpsDirigible No. 1 in 1908.

As for heavier-than-air craft, Army lead-ers gave Samuel P. Langley $50,000 forconstruction of a full-sized “aerodrome” in1898. Langley failed to fly, but Army inter-est in aviation continued. Its leaders begancorrespondence with the Wright brothers inMay 1907, established an AeronauticalDivision in August, and prepared require-ments for a military airplane in December. The Army accepted the Wrights’ bid inFebruary 1908. Trials began later in theyear, but a crash delayed the results. TheU.S. Army ultimately accepted Signal CorpsNo. 1 on 2 August 1909.

Today’s global U.S. Air Force grew fromthe Aeronautical Division and this first air-plane, but the road to independence wastortuous. The U.S. Army established the AirService in May 1918, and in 1926, the AirService became the U.S. Army Air Corps.Creation of the U.S. Army Air Forces in1941 provided the autonomy necessary forvictory during World War II. The U.S. AirForce achieved full independence on 18September 1947.

U.S. government accepted the Wright aircraft in1909. © Wright State University

1941 Cheerios invented

1941June 20 The United States Army Air Forces were formed.

The Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black fighter squadron inthe United States Armed Forces, was formed. Until thattime, Blacks had been forbidden to receive pilot training.

1942July 19 The Messerschmitt 262, the world’s first opera-tional jet-powered fighter, took to the air with FritzWendel at the controls.

1943January Franklin D. Roosevelt boarded a Boeing 314 fly-ing boat in Miami, Florida, and became the first chiefexecutive to make a wartime flight while in office.

The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was formedto ferry military planes and perform other noncombatoperations for the U.S. military in World War II.

1942 Electronic computer developed in U.S. 1943 Slinky toy invented

14

General Motors FM-1 Wildcat.

National Air and Space Museum #76-1722©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Not all bombs that fell from airplanes during the war were destructive.One in particular, the “Monroe Bomb,” named after its inventor, U.S.Army Air Force Captain James Monroe, employed the weapons of psy-chological warfare—propaganda leaflets—dropping hundreds of thou-sands of them over broad areas from planes like the B-17 and B24.

“By Day and by Night, with United Strength,” from the World War II propaganda leaflet collection of Hans Moonen; see http://www.cobweb.nl/jmoonen/

attacked the Third Reich, with B-17s, B-24s, and RAF Lancasters and Wellingtonspounding Germany’s industry, transporta-tion, and communications around theclock. The strategic bombing campaigndevastated the Nazi transportation systemand cut the enemy’s oil production. InFebruary 1944, during “Big Week,” theLuftwaffe contested the European skies,and as a result, the American escort fighters took a heavy toll on the GermanAir Force—a turning point in the air warover Europe.

Moreover, allied strategic and tacticalair forces, as Supreme CommanderDwight D. Eisenhower emphasized, madesafe the invasion of the Continent on 6 June 1944 by defeating the Luftwaffeprior to D-Day and by reducing theenemy’s ability to reinforce the battlefield.In his words, “Unless we had faith in airpower as a fighting arm to intervene andmake safe that landing, it would havebeen more than fantastic, it would havebeen criminal.”

In addition to the strategic bombingcampaign, the Allied tactical air forcesmade a major contribution to the Europeanvictory through their enormous support ofthe ground forces as they fought their wayeastward into Germany. Victory in Europeon 8 May 1945 was in so many ways avictory for air power. Eye on

the Sky■ During WorldWar II, the air-craft spotterprovided aninvaluable serv-ice on the

ground. These volunteer civilians kept aclose watch for enemy aircraft that mightappear in the skies overhead, skies thatwere sometimes filled with planes flyingfrom one point to another on trainingmissions or to and from bases. It was animportant aspect of defense to be able todistinguish quickly and accuratelybetween friendly and enemy aircraft.Spotters used “spotter cards” to helpthem do the job.

Because spotters never knew fromwhich direction airplanes would come,they were trained to quickly look for theshape of the wing, the number ofengines, the forward profile, and anyother markings on the plane that wouldenable them to quickly identify it.

Each spotter card showed several per-spectives of the plane it represented,along with the plane’s markings.

National Air and Space Museum #00186467©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Air Power in World War II

Although outnumbered in the earlymonths of the war in the Pacific, Americanairmen of the USAAF and U.S. Navyfought gallantly against the Japanese inthe Philippines and the Southwest Pacific.On 18 April 1942, the U.S. struck backwhen Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittleled sixteen USAAF B-25s from the deckof an aircraft carrier and bombed Japan.Meanwhile, in China, the AmericanVolunteer Group, the “Flying Tigers,”under General Claire Chennault, flyingshark-mouthed Curtiss P-40s, bestedthe Japanese air force. It was in China,too, that U.S. transport aircraft flew “theHump” over the highest mountains of theworld, keeping China in the war anddramatizing the importance of global airtransport, perhaps the greatest develop-ment of air power during the war. In June1942, the Japanese suffered a keydefeat in the Battle of Midway Island, inwhich U.S. Navy dive bombers sank fourJapanese aircraft carriers. The Battle ofMidway and subsequent fighting atGuadalcanal, which broke the back ofJapanese air power, proved decisive.

During the firstweek of March1943, Japan wasdealt a crushing blowin the Battle of the Bismarck Sea,when aircraft of General George Kenney’sFifth Air Force destroyed an entireJapanese convoy. The Japanese never

really recovered from this defeat.Subsequently, General Kenney’s Allied AirForces, under theater commander GeneralDouglas MacArthur, supported the drivenorth and westward along the north coastof New Guinea and then played a majorrole in the invasion of the Philippines. This was the famous “island-hopping”campaign, which left substantial Japaneseforces isolated on islands, only to “witheron the vine.”

The final act was the bombing of theJapanese homeland by B-29 Super-fortresses, a strategic offensive that, alongwith the naval blockade, brought Japan tothe brink of catastrophe in the summer of1945. With the dropping of atomic bombs

by B-29s on Hiroshima andNagasaki, Japan was forced to sur-render on 2 September 1945, thereby writinga final, dramatic chapter to WorldWar II.

The Tuskegee Airmen■ In July 1941, the Army Air Corps begana program to train Black Americans as mil-itary pilots. The military selected TuskegeeInstitute to train pilots because of its com-mitment to aeronautical training. The pro-gram was titled the “Tuskegee Experiment.”Once a cadet completed primary training,he was sent to nearby Tuskegee Army AirField to complete flight training and transi-tion to combat-type aircraft. “TuskegeeAirmen” included pilots, navigators, bom-bardiers, maintenance and support staff,instructors, and all the personnel who keptthe planes in the air.

The Tuskegee Airmen exemplifiedcourage, skill, and dedication in combat.They flew more than 15,000 sorties, com-pleting over 1,500 missions during thewar. Equipped with their red-tailed P51Mustangs, the pilots of the 332nd FighterGroup never lost an escorted bomber toenemy fighters—a record only theTuskegee Airmen can claim.

American bomber crews reverentlyreferred to them as “The Black RedtailAngels” because of the identifying redpaint on their tail assemblies. Feared andrespected by the Germans, the Airmenwere known as the “SchwartzeVogelmenschen”—Black Birdmen.

At the end of the war, the TuskegeeAirmen returned home with numerousawards for gallantry. Their heroics in the airand dignity on the ground won them thehighest honors.

The Hawker Hurricane is aBritish fighter plane.

Tokyo Raiders: The Doolittle Raid■ After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,War Department planners hit upon the ideaof bombing Japan by launching B-25bombers from an aircraft carrier. In April1942, as flight crews boarded the carrierUSS Hornet, planes were being lashed tothe decks. When Navy radar spottedJapanese ships ahead of the carrier,Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle wasordered to launch even though the shipwas 700 miles from Japan, instead of theplanned 400.

The mission successfully hit targets inTokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagoyabefore turning toward landing fields inChina. With low fuel reserves and stronghead winds, the crews knew they wouldn’treach the designated landing fields. Fifteenof the sixteen planes crashed or ditched atsea with one diverting to Russia. Of theeighty fliers, three died in landings, eightwere captured by the Japanese,and the crew that landed inRussia was interned beforeeventually escaping. All the oth-ers bailed out over China andeventually found their way to safehaven in Chungking.

America had hit back. Newsreports stateside flashed word thatDoolittle and his Raiders hadstruck Tokyo, and morale startedrocketing upward.

■ Air power played a crucial role in almostevery aspect of World War II. Germany’sair force, the Luftwaffe, supported the Naziground forces early in the war as they dev-astated western Europe. The scream ofStuka dive-bombers heralded Blitzkrieg,which dominated the early war conflict.The Luftwaffe was ill-equipped to fightEngland, however, and the tide began toturn when Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF)defeated it during the now-famous Battleof Britain. “Achtung, Spitfire!” became ter-rible words for German pilots.

The United States entered World War IIon 7 December 1941, when the Japaneseconducted a surprise air attack on theAmerican naval base at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii. However, although the Japanesedrew the U.S. into the war, early planningmade Germany the primary foe.

The RAF began with a bombing cam-paign conducted mostly at night againstGerman cities. It was soon joined by themighty Eighth Air Force of the U.S. Army

Air Forces (USAAF),which specialized inhigh-altitude, daylightattacks on Germanindustrial targets. Overthe skies of northwestEurope, great bomberfleets of the CombinedBomber Offensive

Air power is like poker. A second-best hand is like none at all—it will cost you dough and win you nothing. —General George Kenney 15

1941 Cheerios invented

1941June 20 The United States Army Air Forces were formed.

The Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black fighter squadron inthe United States Armed Forces, was formed. Until thattime, Blacks had been forbidden to receive pilot training.

1942July 19 The Messerschmitt 262, the world’s first opera-tional jet-powered fighter, took to the air with FritzWendel at the controls.

1943January Franklin D. Roosevelt boarded a Boeing 314 fly-ing boat in Miami, Florida, and became the first chiefexecutive to make a wartime flight while in office.

The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was formedto ferry military planes and perform other noncombatoperations for the U.S. military in World War II.

1942 Electronic computer developed in U.S. 1943 Slinky toy invented

14

General Motors FM-1 Wildcat.

National Air and Space Museum #76-1722©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Not all bombs that fell from airplanes during the war were destructive.One in particular, the “Monroe Bomb,” named after its inventor, U.S.Army Air Force Captain James Monroe, employed the weapons of psy-chological warfare—propaganda leaflets—dropping hundreds of thou-sands of them over broad areas from planes like the B-17 and B24.

“By Day and by Night, with United Strength,” from the World War II propaganda leaflet collection of Hans Moonen; see http://www.cobweb.nl/jmoonen/

attacked the Third Reich, with B-17s, B-24s, and RAF Lancasters and Wellingtonspounding Germany’s industry, transporta-tion, and communications around theclock. The strategic bombing campaigndevastated the Nazi transportation systemand cut the enemy’s oil production. InFebruary 1944, during “Big Week,” theLuftwaffe contested the European skies,and as a result, the American escort fighters took a heavy toll on the GermanAir Force—a turning point in the air warover Europe.

Moreover, allied strategic and tacticalair forces, as Supreme CommanderDwight D. Eisenhower emphasized, madesafe the invasion of the Continent on 6 June 1944 by defeating the Luftwaffeprior to D-Day and by reducing theenemy’s ability to reinforce the battlefield.In his words, “Unless we had faith in airpower as a fighting arm to intervene andmake safe that landing, it would havebeen more than fantastic, it would havebeen criminal.”

In addition to the strategic bombingcampaign, the Allied tactical air forcesmade a major contribution to the Europeanvictory through their enormous support ofthe ground forces as they fought their wayeastward into Germany. Victory in Europeon 8 May 1945 was in so many ways avictory for air power. Eye on

the Sky■ During WorldWar II, the air-craft spotterprovided aninvaluable serv-ice on the

ground. These volunteer civilians kept aclose watch for enemy aircraft that mightappear in the skies overhead, skies thatwere sometimes filled with planes flyingfrom one point to another on trainingmissions or to and from bases. It was animportant aspect of defense to be able todistinguish quickly and accuratelybetween friendly and enemy aircraft.Spotters used “spotter cards” to helpthem do the job.

Because spotters never knew fromwhich direction airplanes would come,they were trained to quickly look for theshape of the wing, the number ofengines, the forward profile, and anyother markings on the plane that wouldenable them to quickly identify it.

Each spotter card showed several per-spectives of the plane it represented,along with the plane’s markings.

National Air and Space Museum #00186467©2002 Smithsonian Institution

Air Power in World War II

Although outnumbered in the earlymonths of the war in the Pacific, Americanairmen of the USAAF and U.S. Navyfought gallantly against the Japanese inthe Philippines and the Southwest Pacific.On 18 April 1942, the U.S. struck backwhen Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittleled sixteen USAAF B-25s from the deckof an aircraft carrier and bombed Japan.Meanwhile, in China, the AmericanVolunteer Group, the “Flying Tigers,”under General Claire Chennault, flyingshark-mouthed Curtiss P-40s, bestedthe Japanese air force. It was in China,too, that U.S. transport aircraft flew “theHump” over the highest mountains of theworld, keeping China in the war anddramatizing the importance of global airtransport, perhaps the greatest develop-ment of air power during the war. In June1942, the Japanese suffered a keydefeat in the Battle of Midway Island, inwhich U.S. Navy dive bombers sank fourJapanese aircraft carriers. The Battle ofMidway and subsequent fighting atGuadalcanal, which broke the back ofJapanese air power, proved decisive.

During the firstweek of March1943, Japan wasdealt a crushing blowin the Battle of the Bismarck Sea,when aircraft of General George Kenney’sFifth Air Force destroyed an entireJapanese convoy. The Japanese never

really recovered from this defeat.Subsequently, General Kenney’s Allied AirForces, under theater commander GeneralDouglas MacArthur, supported the drivenorth and westward along the north coastof New Guinea and then played a majorrole in the invasion of the Philippines. This was the famous “island-hopping”campaign, which left substantial Japaneseforces isolated on islands, only to “witheron the vine.”

The final act was the bombing of theJapanese homeland by B-29 Super-fortresses, a strategic offensive that, alongwith the naval blockade, brought Japan tothe brink of catastrophe in the summer of1945. With the dropping of atomic bombs

by B-29s on Hiroshima andNagasaki, Japan was forced to sur-render on 2 September 1945, thereby writinga final, dramatic chapter to WorldWar II.

The Tuskegee Airmen■ In July 1941, the Army Air Corps begana program to train Black Americans as mil-itary pilots. The military selected TuskegeeInstitute to train pilots because of its com-mitment to aeronautical training. The pro-gram was titled the “Tuskegee Experiment.”Once a cadet completed primary training,he was sent to nearby Tuskegee Army AirField to complete flight training and transi-tion to combat-type aircraft. “TuskegeeAirmen” included pilots, navigators, bom-bardiers, maintenance and support staff,instructors, and all the personnel who keptthe planes in the air.

The Tuskegee Airmen exemplifiedcourage, skill, and dedication in combat.They flew more than 15,000 sorties, com-pleting over 1,500 missions during thewar. Equipped with their red-tailed P51Mustangs, the pilots of the 332nd FighterGroup never lost an escorted bomber toenemy fighters—a record only theTuskegee Airmen can claim.

American bomber crews reverentlyreferred to them as “The Black RedtailAngels” because of the identifying redpaint on their tail assemblies. Feared andrespected by the Germans, the Airmenwere known as the “SchwartzeVogelmenschen”—Black Birdmen.

At the end of the war, the TuskegeeAirmen returned home with numerousawards for gallantry. Their heroics in the airand dignity on the ground won them thehighest honors.

The Hawker Hurricane is aBritish fighter plane.

Tokyo Raiders: The Doolittle Raid■ After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,War Department planners hit upon the ideaof bombing Japan by launching B-25bombers from an aircraft carrier. In April1942, as flight crews boarded the carrierUSS Hornet, planes were being lashed tothe decks. When Navy radar spottedJapanese ships ahead of the carrier,Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle wasordered to launch even though the shipwas 700 miles from Japan, instead of theplanned 400.

The mission successfully hit targets inTokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagoyabefore turning toward landing fields inChina. With low fuel reserves and stronghead winds, the crews knew they wouldn’treach the designated landing fields. Fifteenof the sixteen planes crashed or ditched atsea with one diverting to Russia. Of theeighty fliers, three died in landings, eightwere captured by the Japanese,and the crew that landed inRussia was interned beforeeventually escaping. All the oth-ers bailed out over China andeventually found their way to safehaven in Chungking.

America had hit back. Newsreports stateside flashed word thatDoolittle and his Raiders hadstruck Tokyo, and morale startedrocketing upward.

■ Air power played a crucial role in almostevery aspect of World War II. Germany’sair force, the Luftwaffe, supported the Naziground forces early in the war as they dev-astated western Europe. The scream ofStuka dive-bombers heralded Blitzkrieg,which dominated the early war conflict.The Luftwaffe was ill-equipped to fightEngland, however, and the tide began toturn when Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF)defeated it during the now-famous Battleof Britain. “Achtung, Spitfire!” became ter-rible words for German pilots.

The United States entered World War IIon 7 December 1941, when the Japaneseconducted a surprise air attack on theAmerican naval base at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii. However, although the Japanesedrew the U.S. into the war, early planningmade Germany the primary foe.

The RAF began with a bombing cam-paign conducted mostly at night againstGerman cities. It was soon joined by themighty Eighth Air Force of the U.S. Army

Air Forces (USAAF),which specialized inhigh-altitude, daylightattacks on Germanindustrial targets. Overthe skies of northwestEurope, great bomberfleets of the CombinedBomber Offensive

Air power is like poker. A second-best hand is like none at all—it will cost you dough and win you nothing. —General George Kenney 15

1947September 18 United States Air Force formed as a separate service.

October 14 Captain Charles E. Yeager flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time in the rocket-powered Bell X-1.

1948The Berlin Blockade and airlift proved the power of air-planes to help resolve diplomatic crises.

1949March 2 Lucky Lady II: This Boeing B-50A made the firstnonstop around-the-world flight.

1950 Korean War began1945 World War II ended

■ No matter what nickname they go by,modern helicopters are amazingly versa-tile aircraft with the ability to lift directlyoff the ground and fly without the needfor a runway.

The concept of vertical flight can betraced to the Chinese top, a toy firstused around 400 B.C. By the mid-1500s, Leonardo da Vinci was sketchinghelicopter-like machines.

In 1907, French engineer Paul Cornumanaged to lift a helicopter he designedinto the air for 20 seconds. Though not along flight, it was enough to stimulateother designers, who made greatadvances in helicopter design.

It was not until 1939 that the first suc-cessful helicopter flight took place in the

The Bell X-1 named Glamorous Glennis.

1953November 20 Scott Crossfield became the first pilot tofly at Mach 2 in the D-558 research plane.

Jackie Cochran became the first woman to fly fasterthan sound.

1953 Color television introduced in the U.S. 1957 Dr. Seuss published The Cat in the Hat

16 17

In 1939, the first successful flight of a helicopter was accomplished in the United States by Igor Sikorsky.National Air and Space Museum #00089138 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

the Comet in 1954, not onlyaddressing the structural problems thatdoomed the first jetliner, but also boast-ing a newly designed airframe that offereda smoother, faster ride with room formore passengers. This airliner sparkedDouglas Aircraft to produce the DC-8, aplane with greater range and more cabinwidth, which allowed an extra passengerseat in each row.

With a seating capacity of up to 550passengers, Boeing’s 747 was theworld’s first and largest commercialjumbo jet, a plane over 230 feet longwith a wingspan of almost 200 feet.

1944V-2 rocket first used in combat.

1945August 6 B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

The Lockheed L-1011, McDonnellDouglas DC-10, and Airbus A300 followed.The Boeing 777 is the most recententrant into the wide-body aircraft market.

The Concorde supersonic transport wasthe result of a partnership between theFrench and British governments. Only 16Concordes were built, but given its abilityto travel at Mach 2.2 (over twice thespeed of sound) at an altitude of 50,000feet, flying the Concorde became anincredible experience for its passengers.

Today, aircraft manufacturers continueto adapt their machines to the market’sdesire to get there faster, more efficiently,and more comfortably.

■ Air Force Test Pilot Captain Charles E.“Chuck” Yeager broke the “sound barrier”for the first time by flying Mach 1.06 on14 October 1947. This first supersonic, orabove Mach 1, flight occurred at 43,000feet above California’s Mojave Desert inthe bright orange air-launched,rocket-powered Bell X-1 aircraftnamed Glamorous Glennisin honor of his wife.Mach is the ratio ofthe speed of an object tothe speed of sound. The speed

of sound varies with pressure andtemperature, so at sea level, Mach1 is about 760 miles per hour,and at 35,000 feet, it is about660 miles per hour.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

PassengerJets■ Through the 1940s, theU.S. led the passenger transport busi-ness; however, in 1952, British Airwayschallenged that lead with the introductionof the world’s first jet airliner.

The Comet was designed to fly at35,000 feet and higher, thus dramaticallyreducing fuel consumption. But at thesealtitudes, there was another problem tobe solved: creating a pressurized cabin inwhich passengers could breathe withoutoxygen masks. Once the issue of cabinpressurization was resolved, the Cometwas ready to be introduced to the public,and they loved it. The original Comet’slifespan was cut short because of struc-tural problems.

The Boeing 707, based on a jet tankerdesign built for the U.S. Air Force, followed

1955 Disneyland opened in California

1957January 15–18 A jet flew around the world for the first time.

October 4 The Russians launched Sputnik I, the firstartificial Earth satellite.

1954The U.S. Air Force Academy was created.

July 15 The Boeing “Dash 80” (prototype of 707) first test flight occurred.

1955August 4 The U-2 reconnaissance prototype first flew.

The flying machines will eventually be fast; they will be used in sport, but they should not be thought of as commercial carriers. —Octave Chanute, 1910

Boeing 757 aircraft.

United States. Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-born U.S. citizen who is known as the“Father of the Helicopter,” flew his VS-300 and launched a lucrative businessthat provided helicopters for World War II,Korea, and Vietnam.

Today, helicopters are used for trans-porting accident victims, crop seeding,traffic reports, aerial photography, fightingforest fires, rescues at sea, lifting heavyconstruction materials for skyscraper con-struction, and hundreds of other practicalapplications. This fascinating machinethat can take off and land vertically;hover in midair; and fly forward, back-ward, sideways, or straight up and downis as indispensable as it is versatile.

Into the Jet Age■ With the advent of jet technology, theworld of aviation was again on the edge ofchange. This time, the changes would rev-olutionize military as well as civilian air-craft and turn the business of passengertransport into a race to see which airlinecould carry the most people the greatestdistance in the least amount of time.

Both the Allies and the Germans wereengaged in building jets as World War IIwas drawing to a close; by the time theKorean conflict began in 1950, the speedof jet fighters was considered a necessityto win air combat engagements.

Engineers continually worked to modifythese planes, each change allowing theaircraft to fly higher and faster while alsoimproving its stability and maneuverability.These developments eventually led tosupersonic bombers like the B-58 andwide-body cargo planes with the capacityto carry troops, tanks, and tons of sup-plies into battle.

One of the greatest beneficiaries of jetdevelopment was commercial aviation,and by the 1960s, passenger jets wereeclipsing ships and trains as the dominantmode of passenger transport.

F86-Sabre.

Choppers.Copters.Whirlybirds.

1947September 18 United States Air Force formed as a separate service.

October 14 Captain Charles E. Yeager flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time in the rocket-powered Bell X-1.

1948The Berlin Blockade and airlift proved the power of air-planes to help resolve diplomatic crises.

1949March 2 Lucky Lady II: This Boeing B-50A made the firstnonstop around-the-world flight.

1950 Korean War began1945 World War II ended

■ No matter what nickname they go by,modern helicopters are amazingly versa-tile aircraft with the ability to lift directlyoff the ground and fly without the needfor a runway.

The concept of vertical flight can betraced to the Chinese top, a toy firstused around 400 B.C. By the mid-1500s, Leonardo da Vinci was sketchinghelicopter-like machines.

In 1907, French engineer Paul Cornumanaged to lift a helicopter he designedinto the air for 20 seconds. Though not along flight, it was enough to stimulateother designers, who made greatadvances in helicopter design.

It was not until 1939 that the first suc-cessful helicopter flight took place in the

The Bell X-1 named Glamorous Glennis.

1953November 20 Scott Crossfield became the first pilot tofly at Mach 2 in the D-558 research plane.

Jackie Cochran became the first woman to fly fasterthan sound.

1953 Color television introduced in the U.S. 1957 Dr. Seuss published The Cat in the Hat

16 17

In 1939, the first successful flight of a helicopter was accomplished in the United States by Igor Sikorsky.National Air and Space Museum #00089138 ©2002 Smithsonian Institution

the Comet in 1954, not onlyaddressing the structural problems thatdoomed the first jetliner, but also boast-ing a newly designed airframe that offereda smoother, faster ride with room formore passengers. This airliner sparkedDouglas Aircraft to produce the DC-8, aplane with greater range and more cabinwidth, which allowed an extra passengerseat in each row.

With a seating capacity of up to 550passengers, Boeing’s 747 was theworld’s first and largest commercialjumbo jet, a plane over 230 feet longwith a wingspan of almost 200 feet.

1944V-2 rocket first used in combat.

1945August 6 B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

The Lockheed L-1011, McDonnellDouglas DC-10, and Airbus A300 followed.The Boeing 777 is the most recententrant into the wide-body aircraft market.

The Concorde supersonic transport wasthe result of a partnership between theFrench and British governments. Only 16Concordes were built, but given its abilityto travel at Mach 2.2 (over twice thespeed of sound) at an altitude of 50,000feet, flying the Concorde became anincredible experience for its passengers.

Today, aircraft manufacturers continueto adapt their machines to the market’sdesire to get there faster, more efficiently,and more comfortably.

■ Air Force Test Pilot Captain Charles E.“Chuck” Yeager broke the “sound barrier”for the first time by flying Mach 1.06 on14 October 1947. This first supersonic, orabove Mach 1, flight occurred at 43,000feet above California’s Mojave Desert inthe bright orange air-launched,rocket-powered Bell X-1 aircraftnamed Glamorous Glennisin honor of his wife.Mach is the ratio ofthe speed of an object tothe speed of sound. The speed

of sound varies with pressure andtemperature, so at sea level, Mach1 is about 760 miles per hour,and at 35,000 feet, it is about660 miles per hour.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

PassengerJets■ Through the 1940s, theU.S. led the passenger transport busi-ness; however, in 1952, British Airwayschallenged that lead with the introductionof the world’s first jet airliner.

The Comet was designed to fly at35,000 feet and higher, thus dramaticallyreducing fuel consumption. But at thesealtitudes, there was another problem tobe solved: creating a pressurized cabin inwhich passengers could breathe withoutoxygen masks. Once the issue of cabinpressurization was resolved, the Cometwas ready to be introduced to the public,and they loved it. The original Comet’slifespan was cut short because of struc-tural problems.

The Boeing 707, based on a jet tankerdesign built for the U.S. Air Force, followed

1955 Disneyland opened in California

1957January 15–18 A jet flew around the world for the first time.

October 4 The Russians launched Sputnik I, the firstartificial Earth satellite.

1954The U.S. Air Force Academy was created.

July 15 The Boeing “Dash 80” (prototype of 707) first test flight occurred.

1955August 4 The U-2 reconnaissance prototype first flew.

The flying machines will eventually be fast; they will be used in sport, but they should not be thought of as commercial carriers. —Octave Chanute, 1910

Boeing 757 aircraft.

United States. Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-born U.S. citizen who is known as the“Father of the Helicopter,” flew his VS-300 and launched a lucrative businessthat provided helicopters for World War II,Korea, and Vietnam.

Today, helicopters are used for trans-porting accident victims, crop seeding,traffic reports, aerial photography, fightingforest fires, rescues at sea, lifting heavyconstruction materials for skyscraper con-struction, and hundreds of other practicalapplications. This fascinating machinethat can take off and land vertically;hover in midair; and fly forward, back-ward, sideways, or straight up and downis as indispensable as it is versatile.

Into the Jet Age■ With the advent of jet technology, theworld of aviation was again on the edge ofchange. This time, the changes would rev-olutionize military as well as civilian air-craft and turn the business of passengertransport into a race to see which airlinecould carry the most people the greatestdistance in the least amount of time.

Both the Allies and the Germans wereengaged in building jets as World War IIwas drawing to a close; by the time theKorean conflict began in 1950, the speedof jet fighters was considered a necessityto win air combat engagements.

Engineers continually worked to modifythese planes, each change allowing theaircraft to fly higher and faster while alsoimproving its stability and maneuverability.These developments eventually led tosupersonic bombers like the B-58 andwide-body cargo planes with the capacityto carry troops, tanks, and tons of sup-plies into battle.

One of the greatest beneficiaries of jetdevelopment was commercial aviation,and by the 1960s, passenger jets wereeclipsing ships and trains as the dominantmode of passenger transport.

F86-Sabre.

Choppers.Copters.Whirlybirds.

1958 Public schools integrated in Little Rock, Arkansas

1958January 31 Explorer 1 successfully orbited Earth.

October 1 NASA was established.

December 19 First voice radio broadcast from space occurred.

Dawn of theSpace Age■ The National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA) was formed withPresident Dwight D. Eisenhower’s signingof the National Aeronautics and Space Actof 1958. The NACA and parts of otheragencies formed its core; its purpose wasresearch and development for the explo-ration of space. NASA also emerged insome measure because of the pressures of national defense during the Cold Warwith the Soviet Union, a broad contest over the ideologies and allegiances of thenonaligned nations of the world in whichspace exploration emerged as a major area of contest.

The space age actually began before thecreation of NASA. From the latter 1940s,the Department of Defense pursuedresearch, rocketry, and upper atmosphericsciences as a means of ensuring Americanleadership in technology. A major step forward came when President Eisenhowerapproved a plan to orbit a scientific satelliteas part of the International GeophysicalYear (IGY), a cooperative effort to gatherscientific data about Earth, for an eighteen-month period from 1957 to 1958. TheSoviet Union quickly followed suit,announcing plans to orbit its own satellite.

The Naval Research Laboratory’s ProjectVanguard was chosen on 9 September1955 to support the IGY effort, largelybecause it did not interfere with high-priorityballistic missile development programs,while an Army proposal to use theRedstone ballistic missile as the launchvehicle waited in the wings. The technologi-cal demands upon the Vanguard programwere too great and the funding levels toosmall to ensure success.

A full-scale crisis resulted when theSoviets launched Sputnik 1, the world’s firstartificial satellite, on 4 October 1957. Thishad a dramatic effect on American publicopinion, creating an illusion of a technological

■ Surprisingly enough, many aspects of atypical day in the life of an astronaut arequite similar to those of a typical day at amore Earthly job. Being in orbit does, ofcourse, present some different chal-lenges, as well as different perks. There isthe weightlessness to consider, but theviews are amazing.

According to former astronaut Dr. Guion“Guy” Bluford, the first African Americanin space, each astronaut’s day is heavilyscheduled by ground control. “Everyminute is accounted for,” said Dr. Bluford,“and each astronaut is responsible formultiple tasks, whether it’s deploying asatellite, conducting experiments, helpingto fly the Shuttle, or maintaining the vehicle.”

In addition to the time allotted for work,there is also time set aside for sleeping,

1960 John F. Kennedy elected U.S. President

18 19It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative. —Michael Collins

The X-15: Bridging the Gap■ In the X-15 program, the Air Force,NASA, Navy, and North American Aviationembarked upon a new frontier—exploringthe possibilities of a piloted, rocket-powered, air-launched aircraft capable of speeds about five times that of sound.

Between 1959 and 1969, in 199 flights,the X-15 program demonstrated the humandesire to fly higher, faster, and beyondEarth’s atmosphere. On 22 August 1963,the X-15 set an altitude record of354,200 feet (67 miles). Four years later,the aircraft set a speed record of Mach6.7 (4,520 miles per hour).

The vehicle provided the platform formany scientific and technological studies.With an exterior skin of a nickel-chromealloy that could withstand extreme heat,(over 1,000˚F) and a structure speciallydesigned for the harsh unknown environ-ment encountered at hypersonic speeds,the vehicle was able to carry out scientificresearch and survive. This research helpedprove that a pilot could master the skillsrequired for flight into space, even theability to function in a weightless environ-ment. The program also resulted in thefirst full-pressure suit to protect pilots inspace, metal alloys that could survive hightemperatures, new electronic and controlmethods including a reaction control sys-tem to effect maneuvering in the thinatmospheres of near space, and knowl-edge of high-speed flight.

exercising, doing nothing (yes, “breaks”are also scheduled), and eating.

Some astronauts even like the food,though it does have to be reconstitutedfrom its dehydrated state. Menu itemslike shrimp cocktail, scrambled eggs withbacon, and beefsteak burritos are prettynormal fare while in orbit.

Being an astronaut meansbeing well trained andready to perform whatevertask the mission com-mander assigns. Just likejobs on Earth, there’s aboss. This one, however,probably doesn’t mind too much when employ-ees are seen staring offinto space.

Guy Blufordserved on fourShuttle mis-sions—STS-8,STS-61-A, STS-39, and STS-53.

gap, and provided the impetus forincreased spending for aerospace endeav-ors, technical and scientific educationalprograms, and the chartering of new fed-eral agencies to manage research anddevelopment.

The United States launched its firstEarth satellite on 31 January 1958, whenExplorer 1, launched atop a modifiedRedstone, documented the existence ofradiation zones encircling Earth. Thesezones, shaped by Earth’s magnetic field,came to be called the Van Allen RadiationBelt. This mission began a series of flightsto the Moon and planets.

JPL Director William Pickering, astrophysicistJames Van Allen, and rocketeer Wernher vonBraun hold up a mock-up of Explorer 1. A Typical Day in Space

The X-15 rocket-powered aircraft under thewing of a B-52, waiting to be air-launched.This photo was taken from an observa-tion window in the B-52 shortlybefore dropping the X-15.

1959September 15 Scott Crossfield first flew thefastest and highest flying aircraft in history, the rock-et-powered X-15.

1960May 17 YF4H-1 Phantom fighter and Douglas DC-8 were unveiled.

UnconventionalMethods of Flight■ A bird’s ability to fly, powered by itsown unique musculoskeletal system, has, for thousands of years, inspiredhumanity’s desire to fly and especially to achieve flight without the use of any-thing other than muscle power.

Paul B. MacCready envisioned, designed,and built the human-powered GossamerCondor, a 70-pound craft with a wingspanof 96 feet, made of aluminum, mylar,corrugated cardboard, and styrene foam.In 1977, the Condor flew 1.35 miles injust under eight minutes, its average speedbetween 10 and 11 miles per hour.

In 1979, the Gossamer Albatross was“pedaled” from England to France, mak-ing it the first completely human-poweredaircraft to cross the English Channel.

Inspired by the Greek myth of Daedalusand Icarus, the Daedalus Project was con-ceived to fly a human-powered aircraft

Testing theBoundaries■ A desire to expand the capabilities ofaircraft led airplane designer Burt Rutanto the ambitious idea of building an airplanethat could fly around the world withoutrefueling. His Voyager achieved the task.

Rutan used an ultralight graphite com-posite for the plane, designing it with long,knifelike wings that would, along withother frame areas, be filled with fuel. Infact, three-fourths of the Voyager’s totalweight was composed of fuel.

On 23 December 1986, Voyager com-pleted a nine-day flight that ended inCalifornia. The Voyager had circumnavi-gated the world, a nonstop trip of 25,000miles, without refueling.

Helios prototype, a high-flying, solar-powered craft.

nearly 100 miles. On 3 April 1988, the 69-pound Daedalus 88 madethe flight between the island of Crete andthe island of Santorini, a distance of115.11 kilometers, or 71.53 miles.

Over the next 15 years, the lightweighthuman-powered aircraft evolved intolightweight, high-altitude, solar-poweredaircraft. This series of research aircraft setnumerous records, culminating in therecordbreaking flight of the Helios aircraftto 96,863 feet over Hawaii during 2001.This lightweight, unpiloted, propeller-driven,solar-powered, 247-foot-long aircraft is aprototype for future long-duration, high-altitude flights spending days aloft usingonly the Sun for power, either directly orthrough new advanced fuel cells that storethe Sun’s energy. This high-flying wing couldsignificantly enhance scientific missionsstudying Earth, assist farmers, act as atelecommunication platform, enhanceweather observation, and provide disastermonitoring and emergency response.

1958 Public schools integrated in Little Rock, Arkansas

1958January 31 Explorer 1 successfully orbited Earth.

October 1 NASA was established.

December 19 First voice radio broadcast from space occurred.

Dawn of theSpace Age■ The National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA) was formed withPresident Dwight D. Eisenhower’s signingof the National Aeronautics and Space Actof 1958. The NACA and parts of otheragencies formed its core; its purpose wasresearch and development for the explo-ration of space. NASA also emerged insome measure because of the pressures of national defense during the Cold Warwith the Soviet Union, a broad contest over the ideologies and allegiances of thenonaligned nations of the world in whichspace exploration emerged as a major area of contest.

The space age actually began before thecreation of NASA. From the latter 1940s,the Department of Defense pursuedresearch, rocketry, and upper atmosphericsciences as a means of ensuring Americanleadership in technology. A major step forward came when President Eisenhowerapproved a plan to orbit a scientific satelliteas part of the International GeophysicalYear (IGY), a cooperative effort to gatherscientific data about Earth, for an eighteen-month period from 1957 to 1958. TheSoviet Union quickly followed suit,announcing plans to orbit its own satellite.

The Naval Research Laboratory’s ProjectVanguard was chosen on 9 September1955 to support the IGY effort, largelybecause it did not interfere with high-priorityballistic missile development programs,while an Army proposal to use theRedstone ballistic missile as the launchvehicle waited in the wings. The technologi-cal demands upon the Vanguard programwere too great and the funding levels toosmall to ensure success.

A full-scale crisis resulted when theSoviets launched Sputnik 1, the world’s firstartificial satellite, on 4 October 1957. Thishad a dramatic effect on American publicopinion, creating an illusion of a technological

■ Surprisingly enough, many aspects of atypical day in the life of an astronaut arequite similar to those of a typical day at amore Earthly job. Being in orbit does, ofcourse, present some different chal-lenges, as well as different perks. There isthe weightlessness to consider, but theviews are amazing.

According to former astronaut Dr. Guion“Guy” Bluford, the first African Americanin space, each astronaut’s day is heavilyscheduled by ground control. “Everyminute is accounted for,” said Dr. Bluford,“and each astronaut is responsible formultiple tasks, whether it’s deploying asatellite, conducting experiments, helpingto fly the Shuttle, or maintaining the vehicle.”

In addition to the time allotted for work,there is also time set aside for sleeping,

1960 John F. Kennedy elected U.S. President

18 19It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative. —Michael Collins

The X-15: Bridging the Gap■ In the X-15 program, the Air Force,NASA, Navy, and North American Aviationembarked upon a new frontier—exploringthe possibilities of a piloted, rocket-powered, air-launched aircraft capable of speeds about five times that of sound.

Between 1959 and 1969, in 199 flights,the X-15 program demonstrated the humandesire to fly higher, faster, and beyondEarth’s atmosphere. On 22 August 1963,the X-15 set an altitude record of354,200 feet (67 miles). Four years later,the aircraft set a speed record of Mach6.7 (4,520 miles per hour).

The vehicle provided the platform formany scientific and technological studies.With an exterior skin of a nickel-chromealloy that could withstand extreme heat,(over 1,000˚F) and a structure speciallydesigned for the harsh unknown environ-ment encountered at hypersonic speeds,the vehicle was able to carry out scientificresearch and survive. This research helpedprove that a pilot could master the skillsrequired for flight into space, even theability to function in a weightless environ-ment. The program also resulted in thefirst full-pressure suit to protect pilots inspace, metal alloys that could survive hightemperatures, new electronic and controlmethods including a reaction control sys-tem to effect maneuvering in the thinatmospheres of near space, and knowl-edge of high-speed flight.

exercising, doing nothing (yes, “breaks”are also scheduled), and eating.

Some astronauts even like the food,though it does have to be reconstitutedfrom its dehydrated state. Menu itemslike shrimp cocktail, scrambled eggs withbacon, and beefsteak burritos are prettynormal fare while in orbit.

Being an astronaut meansbeing well trained andready to perform whatevertask the mission com-mander assigns. Just likejobs on Earth, there’s aboss. This one, however,probably doesn’t mind too much when employ-ees are seen staring offinto space.

Guy Blufordserved on fourShuttle mis-sions—STS-8,STS-61-A, STS-39, and STS-53.

gap, and provided the impetus forincreased spending for aerospace endeav-ors, technical and scientific educationalprograms, and the chartering of new fed-eral agencies to manage research anddevelopment.

The United States launched its firstEarth satellite on 31 January 1958, whenExplorer 1, launched atop a modifiedRedstone, documented the existence ofradiation zones encircling Earth. Thesezones, shaped by Earth’s magnetic field,came to be called the Van Allen RadiationBelt. This mission began a series of flightsto the Moon and planets.

JPL Director William Pickering, astrophysicistJames Van Allen, and rocketeer Wernher vonBraun hold up a mock-up of Explorer 1. A Typical Day in Space

The X-15 rocket-powered aircraft under thewing of a B-52, waiting to be air-launched.This photo was taken from an observa-tion window in the B-52 shortlybefore dropping the X-15.

1959September 15 Scott Crossfield first flew thefastest and highest flying aircraft in history, the rock-et-powered X-15.

1960May 17 YF4H-1 Phantom fighter and Douglas DC-8 were unveiled.

UnconventionalMethods of Flight■ A bird’s ability to fly, powered by itsown unique musculoskeletal system, has, for thousands of years, inspiredhumanity’s desire to fly and especially to achieve flight without the use of any-thing other than muscle power.

Paul B. MacCready envisioned, designed,and built the human-powered GossamerCondor, a 70-pound craft with a wingspanof 96 feet, made of aluminum, mylar,corrugated cardboard, and styrene foam.In 1977, the Condor flew 1.35 miles injust under eight minutes, its average speedbetween 10 and 11 miles per hour.

In 1979, the Gossamer Albatross was“pedaled” from England to France, mak-ing it the first completely human-poweredaircraft to cross the English Channel.

Inspired by the Greek myth of Daedalusand Icarus, the Daedalus Project was con-ceived to fly a human-powered aircraft

Testing theBoundaries■ A desire to expand the capabilities ofaircraft led airplane designer Burt Rutanto the ambitious idea of building an airplanethat could fly around the world withoutrefueling. His Voyager achieved the task.

Rutan used an ultralight graphite com-posite for the plane, designing it with long,knifelike wings that would, along withother frame areas, be filled with fuel. Infact, three-fourths of the Voyager’s totalweight was composed of fuel.

On 23 December 1986, Voyager com-pleted a nine-day flight that ended inCalifornia. The Voyager had circumnavi-gated the world, a nonstop trip of 25,000miles, without refueling.

Helios prototype, a high-flying, solar-powered craft.

nearly 100 miles. On 3 April 1988, the 69-pound Daedalus 88 madethe flight between the island of Crete andthe island of Santorini, a distance of115.11 kilometers, or 71.53 miles.

Over the next 15 years, the lightweighthuman-powered aircraft evolved intolightweight, high-altitude, solar-poweredaircraft. This series of research aircraft setnumerous records, culminating in therecordbreaking flight of the Helios aircraftto 96,863 feet over Hawaii during 2001.This lightweight, unpiloted, propeller-driven,solar-powered, 247-foot-long aircraft is aprototype for future long-duration, high-altitude flights spending days aloft usingonly the Sun for power, either directly orthrough new advanced fuel cells that storethe Sun’s energy. This high-flying wing couldsignificantly enhance scientific missionsstudying Earth, assist farmers, act as atelecommunication platform, enhanceweather observation, and provide disastermonitoring and emergency response.

1963 President Kennedy assassinated 1968 Civil rights activist Martin Luther King assassinated 1969 Woodstock Pop Festival held in upstate New York

1963August 22 The X-15 aircraft set an altitude record of 67 miles.

1966March 16–17 Neil Armstrong and David Scott performedthe first orbital docking.

1967Astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed Whitedied in the Apollo 1 capsule fire during a ground test inpreparation for their launch.

1968 December Apollo 8 circumnavigated the Moon.

1969 The Concorde prototype and Boeing 747 first flew.

July 20 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon.

March 2 The first Concorde flight occurred.

To the Moon:Apollo■ As an effort to offset world perceptionof Soviet leadership in space and technol-ogy, President John F. Kennedy made apublic commitment on 25 May 1961 toland an American on the Moon by the endof the decade. Following the devastatingApollo 1 capsule fire in January 1967, thefirst Apollo mission of public significancewas the circumlunar flight of Apollo 8.

As that mission orbited the Moon onChristmas Eve 1968, the nation united asone, if only for a few moments, to witnessthis epochal event.

The flight of Apollo 11, lifting off on 16July 1969, made the epic voyage to landon the Moon. On 20 July 1969, theLunar Module, with astronauts Neil A.Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard, landedon the lunar surface while Michael Collinsorbited overhead in the Apollo commandmodule. These astro-nauts were the firsthumans ever to reachanother world. Armstrongwas first to set foot on

Higher and Faster■ Flight has fired the world’s imaginationwith two words: speed and altitude, thepantheon of flying. The attainment of thesefeats depends on multiple complex factors.Generally, the reasons to strive for fasterplanes capable of greater altitude arepractical, rather than heroic or poetic.

After the first successful supersonic flightin 1947 by the X-1, a series of milestoneswere accomplished by research pilots flyingaircraft designed to test the boundaries ofspeed and altitude. Later, the Navy andNACA developed the D-558, which first flewMach 2 on 30 November 1953.

With the Bell X-2 of the mid-1950s, pilots had a vehicle whose powerful rocketengine could reach speeds in excess ofMach 3. At such high speeds, air frictionheats the aircraft’s skin to high tempera-tures; therefore, it was made of an advanced,lightweight, heat-resistant steel alloy. The X-2

reached a record peak altitude of 125,907feet. X-2 research resulted in new construc-tion techniques that contributed to thedevelopment of advanced materials for high-speed aircraft such as the XB-70 bomber,the SR-71 spy plane, and the Space Shuttle.

One of the most unusual research effortswas the “lifting body”—a vehicle with nowings that flew because of the aerodynamiclift generated by the body. Beginning in theearly 1960s, NASA partnered with the Air

1960April 1 Tiros I was the first weather satellite launched.

1961April 12 The first human being to travel in space (Major Yuri Gagarin) completed one full orbit of Earth.

May 5 Alan Shepard was the first American in space.

service in the late 1950s, and rockets likeAtlas, Titan, Minuteman, and Peacekeeperplayed roles in deterrence.

Air power served the U.S. as a platformfor electronic and photographic intelli-gence. Aircraft flew at the periphery of theSoviet Union, photographing installations,collecting signals, and locating radar sys-tems. Aircraft like the U-2 and SR-71achieved fame until reconnaissance satel-lites during the 1960s took responsibilityfor many of these dangerous missions.

The U.S. also developed global airtransport, enabling it to project poweraround the world and provide humanitarianairlift to peoples in distress using C-130,C-141, and giant C-5 aircraft. Global airtransport demonstrated its importanceearly during the Berlin Airlift in 1948–49,when it gave the West its first great victoryof the Cold War.

The U.S. nuclear advantage and devel-opment of air power allowed the econ-omies of the western nations to grow without the excessive burden of military

Air Power and the Cold War■ The Cold War began in the aftermath of World War II as a struggle between theSoviet Union and the United States overthe future of Europe, and ultimately spreadto most parts of the globe. The opponentssought to influence events through non-military means, but at times, as in Koreain the early 1950s and Vietnam in the1960s, it flared into armed conflict. Through-out, air power played a defining role.

U.S. air power and its ability to delivernuclear weapons counterbalanced themassive Soviet ground forces. FollowingWorld War II, the U.S. continued to developthe strategic air power that had dominatedthe skies over Europe and Japan. Themassive B-36 provided early deterrence,giving way during the 1950s to the B-47,B-52, B-58, and, much later, the swing-wing B-1 and stealthy B-2. IntercontinentalBallistic Missiles (ICBMs) began entering

21We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming. —Attributed to Wernher von Braun

Force and other organizations and developedand flew a series of prototypes or modelsof future spacecraft that could land like anairplane after enduring the searing heat ofreentry from space—as the Space Shuttledoes today.

The lifting body configurations variedconsiderably. Some of these configurationspushed the limits of both design engineers’and test pilots’ capabilities. This work ledto the Space Shuttle of today.

Pilot Bill Dana looks up at the B-52 “mothership” cruises over the HL-10 lifting body on MurocDry Lake in California.

spending faced by the SovietUnion and its satellites, whichmaintained huge ground armiesthroughout the Cold War and, atthe same time, attempted—withconsiderable success—to matchU.S. strategic power. The Sovietsachieved military parity by the1970s, but at terrible cost to the Soviet economy. Militarization ofthe Soviet Union and its satel-lites stunted economic develop-ment and undermined politicalstability. The decision of the U.S.and its allies to entrust theirsecurity to nuclear weapons andair power paid off with the col-lapse of the Soviet bloc andend of the Cold War in 1991.

Test Pilot School ■ The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base in the MojaveDesert was established to improve weaponsystems testing. The fundamental key tosuccess in aerospace flight testing andevaluation is the capability, knowledge, andskill of the flight test pilot. Without him—and, increasingly, her—the work of the AirForce Flight Test Center would be impossible.

It is through flight testing that test pilotsdetermine whether an aircraft will be suit-able for its intended mission. The schoolteaches flight test techniques for evaluat-ing aircraft performance, flying qualities,and systems characteristics. Today’s testpilots are responsible for determining theviability of a new generation of extremelysophisticated aircraft weapon systems thatinclude lasers capable of destroying mis-siles, unpiloted craft that drop bombs andeavesdrop inside enemy lines, and air-craft that fly like cargo planes but take off like helicopters.

As part of their training, pilots and engi-neers fly about twenty different aircraft.Graduates will fly the newest prototype Air Force aircraft and weapon systems,including fighter, attack, bomber, recon-naissance, cargo, and helicopter aircraft.Some alumni become NASA astronauts.The U.S. Navy operates a similar school in Maryland.

USAF test pilot school in the 1950s. (USAF)

1961 DNA molecule structure determined

the surface, telling millions on Earth whosaw and heard him that it was “one smallstep for [a] man—one giant leap formankind.” Aldrin soon followed him out,and the two plodded around the landingsite in the lunar gravity (1/6 of Earth’s) andplanted an American flag.

Five more landing missions followed atapproximately six-month intervals throughDecember 1972 (in addition to the abortedApollo 13 flight), each of them spendingan increasing amount of time on theMoon. The scientific experiments placedon the Moon and the lunar soil samplesreturned have provided grist for scientificinvestigations ever since.

Apollo left several important legacies: it accomplished its political goals; it wasa triumph of management in meeting theenormously difficult systems engineeringand technological integration requirements;and it enabled the people of the world,for the first time, to see their home fromafar—a tiny, lovely, and fragile “blue marble”hanging in the blackness of space.

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, July 1969.

20

Right: Titan II ICBM rocket.

1963 President Kennedy assassinated 1968 Civil rights activist Martin Luther King assassinated 1969 Woodstock Pop Festival held in upstate New York

1963August 22 The X-15 aircraft set an altitude record of 67 miles.

1966March 16–17 Neil Armstrong and David Scott performedthe first orbital docking.

1967Astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed Whitedied in the Apollo 1 capsule fire during a ground test inpreparation for their launch.

1968 December Apollo 8 circumnavigated the Moon.

1969 The Concorde prototype and Boeing 747 first flew.

July 20 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon.

March 2 The first Concorde flight occurred.

To the Moon:Apollo■ As an effort to offset world perceptionof Soviet leadership in space and technol-ogy, President John F. Kennedy made apublic commitment on 25 May 1961 toland an American on the Moon by the endof the decade. Following the devastatingApollo 1 capsule fire in January 1967, thefirst Apollo mission of public significancewas the circumlunar flight of Apollo 8.

As that mission orbited the Moon onChristmas Eve 1968, the nation united asone, if only for a few moments, to witnessthis epochal event.

The flight of Apollo 11, lifting off on 16July 1969, made the epic voyage to landon the Moon. On 20 July 1969, theLunar Module, with astronauts Neil A.Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard, landedon the lunar surface while Michael Collinsorbited overhead in the Apollo commandmodule. These astro-nauts were the firsthumans ever to reachanother world. Armstrongwas first to set foot on

Higher and Faster■ Flight has fired the world’s imaginationwith two words: speed and altitude, thepantheon of flying. The attainment of thesefeats depends on multiple complex factors.Generally, the reasons to strive for fasterplanes capable of greater altitude arepractical, rather than heroic or poetic.

After the first successful supersonic flightin 1947 by the X-1, a series of milestoneswere accomplished by research pilots flyingaircraft designed to test the boundaries ofspeed and altitude. Later, the Navy andNACA developed the D-558, which first flewMach 2 on 30 November 1953.

With the Bell X-2 of the mid-1950s, pilots had a vehicle whose powerful rocketengine could reach speeds in excess ofMach 3. At such high speeds, air frictionheats the aircraft’s skin to high tempera-tures; therefore, it was made of an advanced,lightweight, heat-resistant steel alloy. The X-2

reached a record peak altitude of 125,907feet. X-2 research resulted in new construc-tion techniques that contributed to thedevelopment of advanced materials for high-speed aircraft such as the XB-70 bomber,the SR-71 spy plane, and the Space Shuttle.

One of the most unusual research effortswas the “lifting body”—a vehicle with nowings that flew because of the aerodynamiclift generated by the body. Beginning in theearly 1960s, NASA partnered with the Air

1960April 1 Tiros I was the first weather satellite launched.

1961April 12 The first human being to travel in space (Major Yuri Gagarin) completed one full orbit of Earth.

May 5 Alan Shepard was the first American in space.

service in the late 1950s, and rockets likeAtlas, Titan, Minuteman, and Peacekeeperplayed roles in deterrence.

Air power served the U.S. as a platformfor electronic and photographic intelli-gence. Aircraft flew at the periphery of theSoviet Union, photographing installations,collecting signals, and locating radar sys-tems. Aircraft like the U-2 and SR-71achieved fame until reconnaissance satel-lites during the 1960s took responsibilityfor many of these dangerous missions.

The U.S. also developed global airtransport, enabling it to project poweraround the world and provide humanitarianairlift to peoples in distress using C-130,C-141, and giant C-5 aircraft. Global airtransport demonstrated its importanceearly during the Berlin Airlift in 1948–49,when it gave the West its first great victoryof the Cold War.

The U.S. nuclear advantage and devel-opment of air power allowed the econ-omies of the western nations to grow without the excessive burden of military

Air Power and the Cold War■ The Cold War began in the aftermath of World War II as a struggle between theSoviet Union and the United States overthe future of Europe, and ultimately spreadto most parts of the globe. The opponentssought to influence events through non-military means, but at times, as in Koreain the early 1950s and Vietnam in the1960s, it flared into armed conflict. Through-out, air power played a defining role.

U.S. air power and its ability to delivernuclear weapons counterbalanced themassive Soviet ground forces. FollowingWorld War II, the U.S. continued to developthe strategic air power that had dominatedthe skies over Europe and Japan. Themassive B-36 provided early deterrence,giving way during the 1950s to the B-47,B-52, B-58, and, much later, the swing-wing B-1 and stealthy B-2. IntercontinentalBallistic Missiles (ICBMs) began entering

21We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming. —Attributed to Wernher von Braun

Force and other organizations and developedand flew a series of prototypes or modelsof future spacecraft that could land like anairplane after enduring the searing heat ofreentry from space—as the Space Shuttledoes today.

The lifting body configurations variedconsiderably. Some of these configurationspushed the limits of both design engineers’and test pilots’ capabilities. This work ledto the Space Shuttle of today.

Pilot Bill Dana looks up at the B-52 “mothership” cruises over the HL-10 lifting body on MurocDry Lake in California.

spending faced by the SovietUnion and its satellites, whichmaintained huge ground armiesthroughout the Cold War and, atthe same time, attempted—withconsiderable success—to matchU.S. strategic power. The Sovietsachieved military parity by the1970s, but at terrible cost to the Soviet economy. Militarization ofthe Soviet Union and its satel-lites stunted economic develop-ment and undermined politicalstability. The decision of the U.S.and its allies to entrust theirsecurity to nuclear weapons andair power paid off with the col-lapse of the Soviet bloc andend of the Cold War in 1991.

Test Pilot School ■ The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base in the MojaveDesert was established to improve weaponsystems testing. The fundamental key tosuccess in aerospace flight testing andevaluation is the capability, knowledge, andskill of the flight test pilot. Without him—and, increasingly, her—the work of the AirForce Flight Test Center would be impossible.

It is through flight testing that test pilotsdetermine whether an aircraft will be suit-able for its intended mission. The schoolteaches flight test techniques for evaluat-ing aircraft performance, flying qualities,and systems characteristics. Today’s testpilots are responsible for determining theviability of a new generation of extremelysophisticated aircraft weapon systems thatinclude lasers capable of destroying mis-siles, unpiloted craft that drop bombs andeavesdrop inside enemy lines, and air-craft that fly like cargo planes but take off like helicopters.

As part of their training, pilots and engi-neers fly about twenty different aircraft.Graduates will fly the newest prototype Air Force aircraft and weapon systems,including fighter, attack, bomber, recon-naissance, cargo, and helicopter aircraft.Some alumni become NASA astronauts.The U.S. Navy operates a similar school in Maryland.

USAF test pilot school in the 1950s. (USAF)

1961 DNA molecule structure determined

the surface, telling millions on Earth whosaw and heard him that it was “one smallstep for [a] man—one giant leap formankind.” Aldrin soon followed him out,and the two plodded around the landingsite in the lunar gravity (1/6 of Earth’s) andplanted an American flag.

Five more landing missions followed atapproximately six-month intervals throughDecember 1972 (in addition to the abortedApollo 13 flight), each of them spendingan increasing amount of time on theMoon. The scientific experiments placedon the Moon and the lunar soil samplesreturned have provided grist for scientificinvestigations ever since.

Apollo left several important legacies: it accomplished its political goals; it wasa triumph of management in meeting theenormously difficult systems engineeringand technological integration requirements;and it enabled the people of the world,for the first time, to see their home fromafar—a tiny, lovely, and fragile “blue marble”hanging in the blackness of space.

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, July 1969.

20

Right: Titan II ICBM rocket.

1979June 13 The Gossamer Albatross human-pow-ered aircraft crossed the English Channel.

The F-16 became the first production militaryaircraft to incorporate a fly-by-wire flight control system.

The Future of Flight■ Today, visionaries around the world areworking on innovative technologies thatwill determine the future of flight. Thisexciting work is leading to new types ofaircraft and aircraft systems and will greatly improve the way we fly.

Working with airlines and industry leaders,NASA is developing new technologies thatwill bring about improved safety and largeraircraft that transport more passengersusing less fuel. New systems and tools forpilots and air traffic controllers will enableairlines to increase the number of flightswhile dramatically decreasing delays.Business and personal travel could benefitfrom this change with more choices andlower fares. Improvements to systems thatsupport small and personal aircraft couldlead to a future in which personal planesare used much like today’s automobiles.

At the other end of the spectrum areunpiloted aerial vehicles such as theHelios Prototype (p. 19) and uncrewedcombat air vehicles whose use could pre-vent losses of personnel in extremely haz-ardous situations. Additionally, the“Morphing Project” is exploring highly adapt-able airplanes with flexible, bird-like wingsthat will allow for even greater safety, effi-ciency, and versatility.

The future of flight is as full of promiseand excitement as it must have beendecades ago, to those who first took tothe skies in powered flight. The possibili-ties are boundless.

1977 The movie Star Wars was released

1970 April Apollo 13 became a “successful failure” when,despite a ruptured oxygen tank that crippled the space-craft, the crew returned safely.

October 24 The X24A lifting body exceeded Mach 1.

1971 April 19 Soviet Union placed the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in orbit.

1972 NASA launched Landsat 1, the first remote sensing satellite.

1973 NASA launched the Skylab orbital workshop into orbit.

1975Soviet and American spacecraft docked in orbit during theApollo-Soyuz Test Project.

1977 The Gossamer Condor became the first human-powered airplane.

1978October 30 The Airline Deregulation Act was signed into law.

fluids for control. NASA and industryresearchers are looking closely at thecharacteristics of flight in birds to developa new generation of flying machine thatchanges itself to fly more efficiently. Thisnew type of aircraft would be capable ofvarious modes of flight from supersonicto hover.

Some of the current areas of researchinclude developing smart materials, adap-tive structures, and biologically inspiredflight systems. Instead of the traditionaljet engine location on an aircraft’s bodyor wings, scientists are investigating the

effects of using multiple smallengines to power these aircraft. The

results from thisresearch may provide

technologies for aero-space vehicles thatefficiently adapt tothe diverse and vary-ing conditions of flight.

Airplanes of the futurewill have wings thatchange shape for greaterefficiency, mimicking theflight of birds.

23

currently involved in a research project todetermine the possibility of using small,personal aircraft to create a safe alterna-tive for both business and personal airtravel. At the 99 percent of all airports thatare currently underused, small aircraftcould be used to carry people and prod-ucts safely and affordably from one localcommunity airport to another. Delays andtravel time would be reduced as a result ofcreating greater air access into more com-

munities in less time.This provides the flying

public with jet-like perform-ance at an affordable cost.

vehicle with very large lifting capacityand range). Another possibility is covering

the upper surface of the wing with a greatmany tiny, ultrasimple turbine engines thatcan run on compressed hydrogen. Theo-retically, by using these many hydrogen-burning engines, they could allow a 747 to take off in an extremely short distance.

Small, Personal Aircraft

their wing-mounted engines and pro-pellers, enabling them to take offand land much like a helicopter,thereby reducing the need for runwayspace to become airborne. The ver-satility of tiltrotors would meet theneeds of short-haul and commuterflights and would free up valuabletime on the runway for large aircraft.NASA and industry have developedadvanced technologies to maketiltrotor aircraft easier to operate,quieter, more efficient, and safer touse than previous tiltrotors.

Morphing Aircraft■ The future of flight may include aircraftcapable of responding to changes inspeed or environmental conditions byaltering or “morphing” their shape. Thewings of these aircraft would sweep backand reconfigure to minimize drag andsonic boom. The engine inlets and noz-zles would change to adapt to new condi-tions. Small jets of air and feather-likesurfaces would provide additional control.

Morphing would include small and largechanges usingstructures and

■ Imagine being able to plan an entiretrip, home to destination, on the Internet:you drive to your local airport—not themajor hub of today; board a small jet air-craft; and, in a matter of hours, arrive atyour destination. NASA and industry are

The future: new small, efficient jet airplanesthat are easy to fly like the Eclipse 500. © Eclipse Looking Up

■ As the nation’s air traffic increases, theability of the airspace system to handlethe traffic is being stressed. Realizing thatwe will soon be operating at capacity, NASAand the aviation industry are investigatingsolutions to the problems of airspace andrunway congestion. The Civil Tiltrotor air-craft may provide an answer. Regardless ofsize, all airplanes require valuable runwayspace for takeoff and landing. Theseunique aircraft fly like an airplane but tilt

Proposed box wing aircraft concept.

Biplane ofthe Future■ One of many efficiency-increas-ing designs for future aircraft isthe box wing. This modern-day biplane is more efficientthan today’s aircraft; atthe same time, it pro-vides a higher level ofcomfort and safety. Itcould also take up lessspace at the gate thanconventional planes because of its shorterwingspan. Other designs include theblended wing body (a large, nearly all-wing

F-22 Raptor■ The most advanced fighter aircraft in theworld, the F-22 Raptor, is now being testedat Edwards Air Force Base. The Raptor is arevolutionary leap in aircraft technologythat unites advanced capability withreduced maintenance costs and supportrequirements. The F-22’s combination ofstealth, advanced avionics, and maneuver-ability will give pilots a first-look, first-shot,first-kill capability against the aircraft ofany potential enemy.

The F-22 combines advanced supersonicflight with the ability to fly at slow speedsduring combat, pointing its nose in anydirection without loss of control. Integratingsystems like radar and friend-or-foe identi-fication into one cohesive platform, theRaptor is designed to provide air superiorityand dominance to allow quick, decisivevictories with few U.S. and allied casual-ties. This impressive aircraft will replacethe F-15 as America’s front-line air fighter.

22

F22 Raptor. (USAF)

1979 M. Thatcher first female elected Prime Minister (U.K.)1970 Bar codes introduced for retail use in England

Bell/Agusta BA 609 Tiltrotor. Tiltrotors can land in a parking lot and cruise at over 300 miles per hour.© Bell/Agusta

X-45 Uncrewed Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV).

1972 2.5-million-year-old human skull discovered 1973 TCP/IP (Internet protocol) designed

The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

1979June 13 The Gossamer Albatross human-pow-ered aircraft crossed the English Channel.

The F-16 became the first production militaryaircraft to incorporate a fly-by-wire flight control system.

The Future of Flight■ Today, visionaries around the world areworking on innovative technologies thatwill determine the future of flight. Thisexciting work is leading to new types ofaircraft and aircraft systems and will greatly improve the way we fly.

Working with airlines and industry leaders,NASA is developing new technologies thatwill bring about improved safety and largeraircraft that transport more passengersusing less fuel. New systems and tools forpilots and air traffic controllers will enableairlines to increase the number of flightswhile dramatically decreasing delays.Business and personal travel could benefitfrom this change with more choices andlower fares. Improvements to systems thatsupport small and personal aircraft couldlead to a future in which personal planesare used much like today’s automobiles.

At the other end of the spectrum areunpiloted aerial vehicles such as theHelios Prototype (p. 19) and uncrewedcombat air vehicles whose use could pre-vent losses of personnel in extremely haz-ardous situations. Additionally, the“Morphing Project” is exploring highly adapt-able airplanes with flexible, bird-like wingsthat will allow for even greater safety, effi-ciency, and versatility.

The future of flight is as full of promiseand excitement as it must have beendecades ago, to those who first took tothe skies in powered flight. The possibili-ties are boundless.

1977 The movie Star Wars was released

1970 April Apollo 13 became a “successful failure” when,despite a ruptured oxygen tank that crippled the space-craft, the crew returned safely.

October 24 The X24A lifting body exceeded Mach 1.

1971 April 19 Soviet Union placed the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in orbit.

1972 NASA launched Landsat 1, the first remote sensing satellite.

1973 NASA launched the Skylab orbital workshop into orbit.

1975Soviet and American spacecraft docked in orbit during theApollo-Soyuz Test Project.

1977 The Gossamer Condor became the first human-powered airplane.

1978October 30 The Airline Deregulation Act was signed into law.

fluids for control. NASA and industryresearchers are looking closely at thecharacteristics of flight in birds to developa new generation of flying machine thatchanges itself to fly more efficiently. Thisnew type of aircraft would be capable ofvarious modes of flight from supersonicto hover.

Some of the current areas of researchinclude developing smart materials, adap-tive structures, and biologically inspiredflight systems. Instead of the traditionaljet engine location on an aircraft’s bodyor wings, scientists are investigating the

effects of using multiple smallengines to power these aircraft. The

results from thisresearch may provide

technologies for aero-space vehicles thatefficiently adapt tothe diverse and vary-ing conditions of flight.

Airplanes of the futurewill have wings thatchange shape for greaterefficiency, mimicking theflight of birds.

23

currently involved in a research project todetermine the possibility of using small,personal aircraft to create a safe alterna-tive for both business and personal airtravel. At the 99 percent of all airports thatare currently underused, small aircraftcould be used to carry people and prod-ucts safely and affordably from one localcommunity airport to another. Delays andtravel time would be reduced as a result ofcreating greater air access into more com-

munities in less time.This provides the flying

public with jet-like perform-ance at an affordable cost.

vehicle with very large lifting capacityand range). Another possibility is covering

the upper surface of the wing with a greatmany tiny, ultrasimple turbine engines thatcan run on compressed hydrogen. Theo-retically, by using these many hydrogen-burning engines, they could allow a 747 to take off in an extremely short distance.

Small, Personal Aircraft

their wing-mounted engines and pro-pellers, enabling them to take offand land much like a helicopter,thereby reducing the need for runwayspace to become airborne. The ver-satility of tiltrotors would meet theneeds of short-haul and commuterflights and would free up valuabletime on the runway for large aircraft.NASA and industry have developedadvanced technologies to maketiltrotor aircraft easier to operate,quieter, more efficient, and safer touse than previous tiltrotors.

Morphing Aircraft■ The future of flight may include aircraftcapable of responding to changes inspeed or environmental conditions byaltering or “morphing” their shape. Thewings of these aircraft would sweep backand reconfigure to minimize drag andsonic boom. The engine inlets and noz-zles would change to adapt to new condi-tions. Small jets of air and feather-likesurfaces would provide additional control.

Morphing would include small and largechanges usingstructures and

■ Imagine being able to plan an entiretrip, home to destination, on the Internet:you drive to your local airport—not themajor hub of today; board a small jet air-craft; and, in a matter of hours, arrive atyour destination. NASA and industry are

The future: new small, efficient jet airplanesthat are easy to fly like the Eclipse 500. © Eclipse Looking Up

■ As the nation’s air traffic increases, theability of the airspace system to handlethe traffic is being stressed. Realizing thatwe will soon be operating at capacity, NASAand the aviation industry are investigatingsolutions to the problems of airspace andrunway congestion. The Civil Tiltrotor air-craft may provide an answer. Regardless ofsize, all airplanes require valuable runwayspace for takeoff and landing. Theseunique aircraft fly like an airplane but tilt

Proposed box wing aircraft concept.

Biplane ofthe Future■ One of many efficiency-increas-ing designs for future aircraft isthe box wing. This modern-day biplane is more efficientthan today’s aircraft; atthe same time, it pro-vides a higher level ofcomfort and safety. Itcould also take up lessspace at the gate thanconventional planes because of its shorterwingspan. Other designs include theblended wing body (a large, nearly all-wing

F-22 Raptor■ The most advanced fighter aircraft in theworld, the F-22 Raptor, is now being testedat Edwards Air Force Base. The Raptor is arevolutionary leap in aircraft technologythat unites advanced capability withreduced maintenance costs and supportrequirements. The F-22’s combination ofstealth, advanced avionics, and maneuver-ability will give pilots a first-look, first-shot,first-kill capability against the aircraft ofany potential enemy.

The F-22 combines advanced supersonicflight with the ability to fly at slow speedsduring combat, pointing its nose in anydirection without loss of control. Integratingsystems like radar and friend-or-foe identi-fication into one cohesive platform, theRaptor is designed to provide air superiorityand dominance to allow quick, decisivevictories with few U.S. and allied casual-ties. This impressive aircraft will replacethe F-15 as America’s front-line air fighter.

22

F22 Raptor. (USAF)

1979 M. Thatcher first female elected Prime Minister (U.K.)1970 Bar codes introduced for retail use in England

Bell/Agusta BA 609 Tiltrotor. Tiltrotors can land in a parking lot and cruise at over 300 miles per hour.© Bell/Agusta

X-45 Uncrewed Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV).

1972 2.5-million-year-old human skull discovered 1973 TCP/IP (Internet protocol) designed

The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The International Space Station promisesto become the anchor tenant of a researchpark in space, contributing critical knowl-edge necessary to make life on Earth morerewarding and to aid humanity’s move-ment beyond this planet. It is an ideawhose time has come.

The InternationalSpace Station■ From virtually the beginning of the twentieth century, those interested in theexploration of space viewed as central thebuilding of a massive Earth-orbital spacestation to serve as the jumping-off pointfor travel to other planets and to theMoon. Always, space exploration enthusi-asts believed, a permanently occupiedspace station was a necessary outpost inthe new frontier of space.

NASA deferred this dream during ProjectApollo, but on 14 May 1973, it launcheda small orbital space platform, Skylab.Skylab became home to three crews during1973–74 for periods of 28, 59, and 84days, respectively. In orbit, the crew con-ducted solar astronomy and Earth resourcesexperiments, as well as medical studies. Atthe conclusion of the Skylab 4 mission,the orbital workshop was powered downand allowed to burn up on reentry in 1979.

Skylab served as a predecessor for a full-fledged space station. In 1984, as part of

an effort to reinvigorate thespace program, the develop-ment of a new, permanently occu-pied space station was begun. InDecember 1998, the first elements of theInternational Space Station (ISS) wereassembled in orbit. A succession of missionssince that time have continued the effortto construct the Space Station. Now, atthe beginning of the new millennium, theUnited States has joined with fifteen othernations to make into reality the long-heldvision of a space station in Earth orbit. On31 October 2000, the first crew left Earthto set up residence aboard the ISS, andwith this accomplishment, the spacefaringnations of the world intend that no futuregeneration will ever know a time whenthere is not some human presence inspace. Once in orbit, this Space Stationwill enhance human understanding of therigors of spaceflight as no other researchlaboratory has been able to do.

Flying to and from Earth Orbit: The Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle has launched numerousscientific satellites and undertaken scientificand technological experiments rangingfrom Spacelab to a dramatic three-personspacewalk to retrieve a multimillion-dollarcommunications satellite and deploy it foruse. The Shuttle is also instrumental in theservicing of the Hubble Space Telescope.Between April 1981 and the end of 2002,the Space Shuttle carried approximately2.9 million pounds of cargo and more than800 major payloads into orbit.

In the beginning of the twenty-first century,the Space Shuttle is still the only vehicle inthe world with the capability to deliver andreturn large payloads to and from orbit. Itis the most reliable launch system now inservice, with a success rate of better than99 percent. The Space Shuttle remainsone of the most successful and impressivetechnologies in American history. It is a reli-able, mature, and flexible system on whichstunning scientific experiments arelaunched and conducted.

24

Future Launch Systems

■ In the early days of flight in the twentiethcentury, the U.S. government fostered avia-tion. As the nation marks the hundredthanniversary of powered flight, NASA is con-tinuing this historic tradition with an invest-ment in the development of future launchsystems. This will ultimately help move thenation from the pioneering era of the Mer-cury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttleprograms to a future in which people aremore routinely traveling, working, and livingin space.

NASA’s goal is to design a safe, moreaffordable, more reliable reusable spacetransportation system that can accommo-date the needs of the nation’s space-science-driven missions and provide technologiesbeneficial to commercial industry and theDepartment of Defense. The Shuttle hasbeen flying for more than twenty years,and it will continue to fly until a new systemis ready. This research will lead to a newgeneration of launch technologies for acomplete space transportation system whileadvancing the technologies needed to buildand operate that system.

Early next decade, a new generation oflaunch vehicles could be flying. These newvehicles will significantly reduce cost anddramatically increase safety for the humanexploration and development of space.

■ As the Apollo lunar landing missionscame to a close, NASA’s major effort inhuman spaceflight involved the develop-ment of a reusable Space Shuttle thatcould travel back and forth between Earthand space more routinely and economicallythan had ever been done before. Afternearly a decade of development, on 12 April 1981, the first operational orbiter,Columbia, was launched from the KennedySpace Center, Florida. Five short yearslater, in 1986, NASA had chalked uptwenty-four successful Shuttle flights.With each flight, NASA increased thenumber of people who could fly in spaceand contribute to a revolution in scientificunderstanding of the effects of long-dura-tion, near-weightless conditions on alltypes of organisms.

Unfortunately, during the twenty-fifthShuttle launch on 28 January 1986, aleak in the joints of a Solid Rocket Boosterattached to the Challenger orbiter detonatedthe main liquid fuel tank. Seven astronautsdied in this tragic accident. Out of thistragedy, an extensive evaluation andredesign effort placed the Space Shuttle onthe road to becoming the safest and mostreliable space system.

The redesigned Space Shuttle systemreturned to flight on 29 September 1988.Since returning to flight, the four orbiters,Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, andEndeavour, have made more thaneighty-five flights into space.Throughout the Shuttle era, thefour orbiters have been work-horses of space explorationfor both international anddomestic projects.

Space Frontiers■ There are certain ideas that manybelieve to be inherent in the human psycheand integral to American culture: ambitionfor progress, curiosity about the unknown,the need to pose profound questions andto answer them, the concept of new fron-tiers that—once achieved—promise a bet-ter quality of life for all people. Space issuch a frontier: Earth orbit, the Moon,Earth’s neighborhood, Mars and the aster-oids, eventually the moons of the giantplanets of the outer solar system, andsomeday, more distant worlds—these arecollectively the endless, ever-expandingfrontier of the night sky under which thehuman species evolved and toward whichthe human spirit is inevitably drawn.

As part of NASA’s vision to “improve lifehere, extend life to there, and find life

Launch of the SpaceShuttle Columbia.

25

1991 Gulf War began

1981 April 12–14 The first Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, flewinto Earth orbit.

1983 Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space;Guy Bluford became the first African American to fly in space.

1984 December 14 The X-29 forward swept wing aircraft’smaiden flight occurred.

1986 January 28 Space Shuttle Challenger exploded73 seconds into its flight, killing seven crewmembers.

1986December 23 Voyager aircraft completed the first nonstop flight around the world.

1988April 22 Daedalus 88, human-powered aircraft, flew fromCrete to Santorini.

1989 The B-2 Stealth bomber made its first flight.

1990 September 29 The first flight of the YF22 fighter prototype was made by Lockheed test pilot Dave Ferguson.

October 11 The first flight of the X-31, YF22, and YF23 took place.

1989 Berlin wall opened; torn down in 1990

Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards. —Sir Hoyle Fred, British astronomer

1988 CDs outsold vinyl records for the first time

beyond,” NASA is studyingadvanced technologiesthat enable the safe,rapid, and affordableexploration of our solarsystem by humans androbots. Mini-Magneto-spheric Plasma Propulsion(M2P2) is an example ofa transportation technologythat not only attains muchhigher speeds than arenow possible, but alsoprovides an artificial mag-netic field to protect thevehicle and its crew fromharmful radiation.

Artist’s conception of a proposed launch vehicle.

1984 Macintosh computer with mouse released

M2P2 concept.

1991 August 27 The first flight of the YF23 V-22 Osprey tiltrotor occurred.

September 17 The first flight of the McDonnell Douglas C-17 military cargo transport took place.

1981 IBM introduced the first personal computer

Artist’s conception ofthe International SpaceStation in orbit.

The International Space Station promisesto become the anchor tenant of a researchpark in space, contributing critical knowl-edge necessary to make life on Earth morerewarding and to aid humanity’s move-ment beyond this planet. It is an ideawhose time has come.

The InternationalSpace Station■ From virtually the beginning of the twentieth century, those interested in theexploration of space viewed as central thebuilding of a massive Earth-orbital spacestation to serve as the jumping-off pointfor travel to other planets and to theMoon. Always, space exploration enthusi-asts believed, a permanently occupiedspace station was a necessary outpost inthe new frontier of space.

NASA deferred this dream during ProjectApollo, but on 14 May 1973, it launcheda small orbital space platform, Skylab.Skylab became home to three crews during1973–74 for periods of 28, 59, and 84days, respectively. In orbit, the crew con-ducted solar astronomy and Earth resourcesexperiments, as well as medical studies. Atthe conclusion of the Skylab 4 mission,the orbital workshop was powered downand allowed to burn up on reentry in 1979.

Skylab served as a predecessor for a full-fledged space station. In 1984, as part of

an effort to reinvigorate thespace program, the develop-ment of a new, permanently occu-pied space station was begun. InDecember 1998, the first elements of theInternational Space Station (ISS) wereassembled in orbit. A succession of missionssince that time have continued the effortto construct the Space Station. Now, atthe beginning of the new millennium, theUnited States has joined with fifteen othernations to make into reality the long-heldvision of a space station in Earth orbit. On31 October 2000, the first crew left Earthto set up residence aboard the ISS, andwith this accomplishment, the spacefaringnations of the world intend that no futuregeneration will ever know a time whenthere is not some human presence inspace. Once in orbit, this Space Stationwill enhance human understanding of therigors of spaceflight as no other researchlaboratory has been able to do.

Flying to and from Earth Orbit: The Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle has launched numerousscientific satellites and undertaken scientificand technological experiments rangingfrom Spacelab to a dramatic three-personspacewalk to retrieve a multimillion-dollarcommunications satellite and deploy it foruse. The Shuttle is also instrumental in theservicing of the Hubble Space Telescope.Between April 1981 and the end of 2002,the Space Shuttle carried approximately2.9 million pounds of cargo and more than800 major payloads into orbit.

In the beginning of the twenty-first century,the Space Shuttle is still the only vehicle inthe world with the capability to deliver andreturn large payloads to and from orbit. Itis the most reliable launch system now inservice, with a success rate of better than99 percent. The Space Shuttle remainsone of the most successful and impressivetechnologies in American history. It is a reli-able, mature, and flexible system on whichstunning scientific experiments arelaunched and conducted.

24

Future Launch Systems

■ In the early days of flight in the twentiethcentury, the U.S. government fostered avia-tion. As the nation marks the hundredthanniversary of powered flight, NASA is con-tinuing this historic tradition with an invest-ment in the development of future launchsystems. This will ultimately help move thenation from the pioneering era of the Mer-cury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttleprograms to a future in which people aremore routinely traveling, working, and livingin space.

NASA’s goal is to design a safe, moreaffordable, more reliable reusable spacetransportation system that can accommo-date the needs of the nation’s space-science-driven missions and provide technologiesbeneficial to commercial industry and theDepartment of Defense. The Shuttle hasbeen flying for more than twenty years,and it will continue to fly until a new systemis ready. This research will lead to a newgeneration of launch technologies for acomplete space transportation system whileadvancing the technologies needed to buildand operate that system.

Early next decade, a new generation oflaunch vehicles could be flying. These newvehicles will significantly reduce cost anddramatically increase safety for the humanexploration and development of space.

■ As the Apollo lunar landing missionscame to a close, NASA’s major effort inhuman spaceflight involved the develop-ment of a reusable Space Shuttle thatcould travel back and forth between Earthand space more routinely and economicallythan had ever been done before. Afternearly a decade of development, on 12 April 1981, the first operational orbiter,Columbia, was launched from the KennedySpace Center, Florida. Five short yearslater, in 1986, NASA had chalked uptwenty-four successful Shuttle flights.With each flight, NASA increased thenumber of people who could fly in spaceand contribute to a revolution in scientificunderstanding of the effects of long-dura-tion, near-weightless conditions on alltypes of organisms.

Unfortunately, during the twenty-fifthShuttle launch on 28 January 1986, aleak in the joints of a Solid Rocket Boosterattached to the Challenger orbiter detonatedthe main liquid fuel tank. Seven astronautsdied in this tragic accident. Out of thistragedy, an extensive evaluation andredesign effort placed the Space Shuttle onthe road to becoming the safest and mostreliable space system.

The redesigned Space Shuttle systemreturned to flight on 29 September 1988.Since returning to flight, the four orbiters,Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, andEndeavour, have made more thaneighty-five flights into space.Throughout the Shuttle era, thefour orbiters have been work-horses of space explorationfor both international anddomestic projects.

Space Frontiers■ There are certain ideas that manybelieve to be inherent in the human psycheand integral to American culture: ambitionfor progress, curiosity about the unknown,the need to pose profound questions andto answer them, the concept of new fron-tiers that—once achieved—promise a bet-ter quality of life for all people. Space issuch a frontier: Earth orbit, the Moon,Earth’s neighborhood, Mars and the aster-oids, eventually the moons of the giantplanets of the outer solar system, andsomeday, more distant worlds—these arecollectively the endless, ever-expandingfrontier of the night sky under which thehuman species evolved and toward whichthe human spirit is inevitably drawn.

As part of NASA’s vision to “improve lifehere, extend life to there, and find life

Launch of the SpaceShuttle Columbia.

25

1991 Gulf War began

1981 April 12–14 The first Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, flewinto Earth orbit.

1983 Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space;Guy Bluford became the first African American to fly in space.

1984 December 14 The X-29 forward swept wing aircraft’smaiden flight occurred.

1986 January 28 Space Shuttle Challenger exploded73 seconds into its flight, killing seven crewmembers.

1986December 23 Voyager aircraft completed the first nonstop flight around the world.

1988April 22 Daedalus 88, human-powered aircraft, flew fromCrete to Santorini.

1989 The B-2 Stealth bomber made its first flight.

1990 September 29 The first flight of the YF22 fighter prototype was made by Lockheed test pilot Dave Ferguson.

October 11 The first flight of the X-31, YF22, and YF23 took place.

1989 Berlin wall opened; torn down in 1990

Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards. —Sir Hoyle Fred, British astronomer

1988 CDs outsold vinyl records for the first time

beyond,” NASA is studyingadvanced technologiesthat enable the safe,rapid, and affordableexploration of our solarsystem by humans androbots. Mini-Magneto-spheric Plasma Propulsion(M2P2) is an example ofa transportation technologythat not only attains muchhigher speeds than arenow possible, but alsoprovides an artificial mag-netic field to protect thevehicle and its crew fromharmful radiation.

Artist’s conception of a proposed launch vehicle.

1984 Macintosh computer with mouse released

M2P2 concept.

1991 August 27 The first flight of the YF23 V-22 Osprey tiltrotor occurred.

September 17 The first flight of the McDonnell Douglas C-17 military cargo transport took place.

1981 IBM introduced the first personal computer

Artist’s conception ofthe International SpaceStation in orbit.

• What must we do to enable humans to live and work safely in Earth orbit and to venture beyond Earth orbit?

In the search for answers to these ques-tions, NASA has sponsored a multitude ofexperiments to increase our understand-ing of both the human experience andnature’s forces in space. We also devotepart of our budget to education and out-reach to help inspire and educate thenext generation of scientists.

Our total effort is transforming the tech-nological foundations not only of thespace program, but also of our society.Knowledge from space will make a differ-ence in the health industry. Advances inbiology, medicine, physics, and chemistry;associated analytical tools; and informa-tion systems are opening an era ofunprecedented opportunities to benefithuman life on Earth and to extend ourreach into space.

26

■ Why do weather patterns function asthey do? Why are there cycles of hot andcold, wet and dry seasons? How is theclimate changing over time? What are the causes and consequences? Theseand myriad other questions have motivatedscientific study about this planet for cen-turies. With the advent of the space age,however, new space-based instruments—especially remote sensing satellites—haveallowed humans to monitor Earth asnever before.

Using Earth-observing satellites, scientistshave produced immense benefits to thenation, yielding new knowledge for improvedweather forecasting, agriculture, urbanand land-use planning, and many otherrelated areas. In concert with other agen-cies, the global research community, andcommercial partners, space-based resourceshave provided the scientific foundationneeded for complex policy choices leadingto sustainable development.

Meteorological science has also bene-fited greatly from the opportunity to studythe Earth with satellites. The perspectiveafforded by satellite imaging was a greatboon to scientists, who were then able to locate distribution and types of cloudformations, find and measure weather

■ Since the dawn of the space age, NASAhas sent numerous scientific probes to allof the planets of the solar system (exceptPluto) and peered into the depths ofspace to discover galaxies, black holes,and planets outside our solar system.These explorations will change how sci-ence textbooks are written.

The first probes went to the Moon,Mars, and Venus in the 1960s; since thattime, succeeding generations of scientificspacecraft have made revolutionary dis-coveries. For instance, Mars has been thetarget of several missions, including twoViking spacecraft landings in 1976 thatyielded a wealth of scientific information,the 1996 analysis of the Martian mete-orite that suggests that past life mighthave existed on Mars, and the MarsPathfinder mission that landed on 4 July1997. Pathfinder’s rover provided thefirst-ever in situ measurements of Marsrocks and raised questions about otheraspects of the planet’s global system oftransporting volatiles such as water vapor,clouds, and dust. Later Mars probes,especially Mars Global Surveyor (1997)and Mars Odyssey (2001), have confirmedthat the red planet was once a wateryplace where life may have flourished.

NASA has also been involved in severalrobotic expeditions to the outer planets.For example, Voyagers 1 and 2, launchedin 1977, conducted a “grand tour” of oursolar system, returning stunning knowl-edge about those giant worlds and theirmoons. They discovered rings aroundJupiter, volcanoes on Io, shepherdingsatellites in Saturn’s rings, new moonsaround Uranus and Neptune, and geyserson Triton. One striking image was Voyager 1’sportrait of most of the solar system, whichshowed Earth and six other planets assparks in a dark sky lit by a single brightstar, the Sun. Additionally, beginning in1995, the Galileo probe has spent yearsstudying the physical characteristics ofJupiter. The result promises a reinterpretation

of humanity’s understanding of the largestplanet in our system and its moons.

More recently, the Hubble SpaceTelescope, although initially impaired, hasreturned exceptional images providing crit-ical data on the origins and developmentof the universe. As only one example ofthe Hubble’s important contributions, inearly 1997, NASA scientists announcedthe discovery of three black holes in threenormal galaxies, suggesting that nearly allgalaxies may harbor supermassive blackholes which once powered quasars(extremely luminous nuclei of galaxies).

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, several key spaceflight missionsare seeking to answer age-old astronomi-cal questions. As part of the “NASAOrigins Program,” a series of missions will collectively seek to answer suchquestions as how the universe wasformed, what evolutionary process it hasfollowed, and whether we are alone inthe cosmos. The future is exciting, forhumanity has, for the first time in its history, the tools necessary to explore the answers to these enticing questionsmore thoroughly than ever before.

Revolution in Space Sciencedisturbances, and track movements andpatterns. It provided new levels of preci-sion to the evaluation of pressure frontsand air masses that are so critical inweather forecasting. Likewise, meteorolog-ical research beyond weather forecastingtook on new life as climatological researchcontributed significant insights to ourunderstanding of Earth.

NASA launched the first Earth sciencesatellite, Landsat 1, on 23 July 1972 toprovide data on vegetation, insect infesta-tions, crop growth, and associated land-use information. Since that time, six moreLandsat spacecraft have been placed inorbit, each with greater capabilities to

Understanding the Changing Earth

HST Cone Nebula. NASA, H. Ford [JHU/APL], G. Illingworth

27

Representation of DNA struck by radiation, a key concern for long-duration space travel.

TOMS image of largest-ever ozone hole over Antarctica.NASA, TOMS Science Team, and GSFC Science Visualization Studio

produce moredetailed land-usedata than the last.

By the 1990s, Earth system sciencehad come of age, and a variety of Earth-observing spacecraft enabled scientists toobtain sophisticated data about this plan-et’s physical characteristics. Among oth-ers, these spacecraft include the UpperAtmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)missions, the QuikScat andTOPEX/Poseidon ocean studies missions,the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-viewSensor (SeaWiFS) mission, TropicalRainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), andthe ACRIMSAT. Instruments from these

The air, as well as the earth and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and convenient highway for mankind. —Edgar Allen Poe

1994 Jeannie Flynn, the first female combat pilot in the U.S. AirForce, finished flight training in the F-15.

1995Norm Thagard was the first American astronaut to serveon the Russian space station Mir.

1996January 4 The Boeing Sikorsky Comanche helicopter was unveiled.

March 22 Shannon Lucid began her historic journey to Mir.Her stay established the United States single-mission space-flight endurance record.

1997May 17 The first flight of a subscale remotely piloted X-36 tailless research aircraft took place.

1998The first elements of the International Space Station wereassembled in orbit.

1999March 20 The first nonstop circumnavigation of the globevia a balloon took place.

2000 The first crew of the International Space Station arrived in orbit.

1997 First Harry Potter book published in the U.K.

satellites aremeasuring atmospheric chemistry, biomass burning, and land surface changes in regions as diverse asGreenland and the Pacific Ocean. Withthe launch of Terra in 1999, NASA wason its way to deploying Earth’s first simul-taneous view of all the major componentsof the Earth system—to understand andprotect our home planet.

1998 Frank Sinatra died 2000 Closest presidential election in U.S. history

Aqua—Observing the interactions amongEarth’s oceans, atmosphere, land, ice, snowcover, and vegetation.

1994 South Africa held first interracial national election

Space Research■ Throughout most of history, we humanbeings viewed gravity as an inescapableconstant in anything we designed or did.Even from the start, gravity profoundlyaffected the way life on Earth evolved. Butwith the dawn of the space age, access tothe microgravity environment of Earth orbitallowed scientists to cancel most of gravity’seffects and conduct unprecedentedresearch, thus providing a new tool toapply to long-standing questions in sci-ence and technology. Space also posesphysical challenges to explorers, whomust find ways to withstand space envi-ronment hazards for which our evolutionon Earth never prepared us.

To meet these opportunities and chal-lenges, NASA has led the world in peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, fundamental,and applied research in microgravity.Throughout, NASA and its science teams have been guided by two funda-mental questions:

• What is gravity’s role in biological and physical processes?

• What must we do to enable humans to live and work safely in Earth orbit and to venture beyond Earth orbit?

In the search for answers to these ques-tions, NASA has sponsored a multitude ofexperiments to increase our understand-ing of both the human experience andnature’s forces in space. We also devotepart of our budget to education and out-reach to help inspire and educate thenext generation of scientists.

Our total effort is transforming the tech-nological foundations not only of thespace program, but also of our society.Knowledge from space will make a differ-ence in the health industry. Advances inbiology, medicine, physics, and chemistry;associated analytical tools; and informa-tion systems are opening an era ofunprecedented opportunities to benefithuman life on Earth and to extend ourreach into space.

26

■ Why do weather patterns function asthey do? Why are there cycles of hot andcold, wet and dry seasons? How is theclimate changing over time? What are the causes and consequences? Theseand myriad other questions have motivatedscientific study about this planet for cen-turies. With the advent of the space age,however, new space-based instruments—especially remote sensing satellites—haveallowed humans to monitor Earth asnever before.

Using Earth-observing satellites, scientistshave produced immense benefits to thenation, yielding new knowledge for improvedweather forecasting, agriculture, urbanand land-use planning, and many otherrelated areas. In concert with other agen-cies, the global research community, andcommercial partners, space-based resourceshave provided the scientific foundationneeded for complex policy choices leadingto sustainable development.

Meteorological science has also bene-fited greatly from the opportunity to studythe Earth with satellites. The perspectiveafforded by satellite imaging was a greatboon to scientists, who were then able to locate distribution and types of cloudformations, find and measure weather

■ Since the dawn of the space age, NASAhas sent numerous scientific probes to allof the planets of the solar system (exceptPluto) and peered into the depths ofspace to discover galaxies, black holes,and planets outside our solar system.These explorations will change how sci-ence textbooks are written.

The first probes went to the Moon,Mars, and Venus in the 1960s; since thattime, succeeding generations of scientificspacecraft have made revolutionary dis-coveries. For instance, Mars has been thetarget of several missions, including twoViking spacecraft landings in 1976 thatyielded a wealth of scientific information,the 1996 analysis of the Martian mete-orite that suggests that past life mighthave existed on Mars, and the MarsPathfinder mission that landed on 4 July1997. Pathfinder’s rover provided thefirst-ever in situ measurements of Marsrocks and raised questions about otheraspects of the planet’s global system oftransporting volatiles such as water vapor,clouds, and dust. Later Mars probes,especially Mars Global Surveyor (1997)and Mars Odyssey (2001), have confirmedthat the red planet was once a wateryplace where life may have flourished.

NASA has also been involved in severalrobotic expeditions to the outer planets.For example, Voyagers 1 and 2, launchedin 1977, conducted a “grand tour” of oursolar system, returning stunning knowl-edge about those giant worlds and theirmoons. They discovered rings aroundJupiter, volcanoes on Io, shepherdingsatellites in Saturn’s rings, new moonsaround Uranus and Neptune, and geyserson Triton. One striking image was Voyager 1’sportrait of most of the solar system, whichshowed Earth and six other planets assparks in a dark sky lit by a single brightstar, the Sun. Additionally, beginning in1995, the Galileo probe has spent yearsstudying the physical characteristics ofJupiter. The result promises a reinterpretation

of humanity’s understanding of the largestplanet in our system and its moons.

More recently, the Hubble SpaceTelescope, although initially impaired, hasreturned exceptional images providing crit-ical data on the origins and developmentof the universe. As only one example ofthe Hubble’s important contributions, inearly 1997, NASA scientists announcedthe discovery of three black holes in threenormal galaxies, suggesting that nearly allgalaxies may harbor supermassive blackholes which once powered quasars(extremely luminous nuclei of galaxies).

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, several key spaceflight missionsare seeking to answer age-old astronomi-cal questions. As part of the “NASAOrigins Program,” a series of missions will collectively seek to answer suchquestions as how the universe wasformed, what evolutionary process it hasfollowed, and whether we are alone inthe cosmos. The future is exciting, forhumanity has, for the first time in its history, the tools necessary to explore the answers to these enticing questionsmore thoroughly than ever before.

Revolution in Space Sciencedisturbances, and track movements andpatterns. It provided new levels of preci-sion to the evaluation of pressure frontsand air masses that are so critical inweather forecasting. Likewise, meteorolog-ical research beyond weather forecastingtook on new life as climatological researchcontributed significant insights to ourunderstanding of Earth.

NASA launched the first Earth sciencesatellite, Landsat 1, on 23 July 1972 toprovide data on vegetation, insect infesta-tions, crop growth, and associated land-use information. Since that time, six moreLandsat spacecraft have been placed inorbit, each with greater capabilities to

Understanding the Changing Earth

HST Cone Nebula. NASA, H. Ford [JHU/APL], G. Illingworth

27

Representation of DNA struck by radiation, a key concern for long-duration space travel.

TOMS image of largest-ever ozone hole over Antarctica.NASA, TOMS Science Team, and GSFC Science Visualization Studio

produce moredetailed land-usedata than the last.

By the 1990s, Earth system sciencehad come of age, and a variety of Earth-observing spacecraft enabled scientists toobtain sophisticated data about this plan-et’s physical characteristics. Among oth-ers, these spacecraft include the UpperAtmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)missions, the QuikScat andTOPEX/Poseidon ocean studies missions,the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-viewSensor (SeaWiFS) mission, TropicalRainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), andthe ACRIMSAT. Instruments from these

The air, as well as the earth and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and convenient highway for mankind. —Edgar Allen Poe

1994 Jeannie Flynn, the first female combat pilot in the U.S. AirForce, finished flight training in the F-15.

1995Norm Thagard was the first American astronaut to serveon the Russian space station Mir.

1996January 4 The Boeing Sikorsky Comanche helicopter was unveiled.

March 22 Shannon Lucid began her historic journey to Mir.Her stay established the United States single-mission space-flight endurance record.

1997May 17 The first flight of a subscale remotely piloted X-36 tailless research aircraft took place.

1998The first elements of the International Space Station wereassembled in orbit.

1999March 20 The first nonstop circumnavigation of the globevia a balloon took place.

2000 The first crew of the International Space Station arrived in orbit.

1997 First Harry Potter book published in the U.K.

satellites aremeasuring atmospheric chemistry, biomass burning, and land surface changes in regions as diverse asGreenland and the Pacific Ocean. Withthe launch of Terra in 1999, NASA wason its way to deploying Earth’s first simul-taneous view of all the major componentsof the Earth system—to understand andprotect our home planet.

1998 Frank Sinatra died 2000 Closest presidential election in U.S. history

Aqua—Observing the interactions amongEarth’s oceans, atmosphere, land, ice, snowcover, and vegetation.

1994 South Africa held first interracial national election

Space Research■ Throughout most of history, we humanbeings viewed gravity as an inescapableconstant in anything we designed or did.Even from the start, gravity profoundlyaffected the way life on Earth evolved. Butwith the dawn of the space age, access tothe microgravity environment of Earth orbitallowed scientists to cancel most of gravity’seffects and conduct unprecedentedresearch, thus providing a new tool toapply to long-standing questions in sci-ence and technology. Space also posesphysical challenges to explorers, whomust find ways to withstand space envi-ronment hazards for which our evolutionon Earth never prepared us.

To meet these opportunities and chal-lenges, NASA has led the world in peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, fundamental,and applied research in microgravity.Throughout, NASA and its science teams have been guided by two funda-mental questions:

• What is gravity’s role in biological and physical processes?

28

Aviation Fun!

11"

8.5"1 2 3

4

1. Fold 8.5 x 11-inch paperdiagonally as shown.

2. Make a half-inch fold along the previously folded edge.

3. Make a second half-inch fold.

4. Curl the ends of the paper tomake a ring and tuck one endinto the fold of the other.

5. Gently grasp the “V” between the two “crown points” with your thumbsand index fingers and toss the gliderlightly forward.

This wing demonstrates the great room there is for aeronautics innovation. Can you design a better wing?

The folds in the paper make an airplanewing where the front end is heavy and theback end is light. Curling the ends to makea ring changes the shape of the wing andimproves the wing’s flight performance.

Scavenger Hunt!! Find the answers to each of these in the previous pages.

• Why was Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, chosen for the test flights of the Wright brothers?

• What type of flying vehicle is credited to the “father of aeronautics?”

• Who was the first African American woman to receive a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) license?

• Who pioneered rubber-band-powered motors called aerodromes in the 1800s?

• What total distance did the first four powered flights of the Wrights’ 1903 flyer travel on December 17?

• What is the name of the remotely piloted aircraft that is being developed to fly at a high altitude for a long duration?

• How long was Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic?

• Name two early flight pioneers who used birds as the inspiration for flights using solar power.

• Who were the first passengers aboard a hot air balloon?

• Who was the first person to step on another world and when?

• What was the first commercial jet aircraft?

Answers1.Most airplanes do not move in reverse and so they need a push. 2.There is less oxygen in the atmosphere at higher altitudes. Airplanes are airtight andpressurized so passengers have the correct mix of air in the cabin. If there is a sudden change in the aircraft’s pressurization, a mask would drop to give passengersneeded oxygen. 3.Even though the cabin is pressurized, there are still slight changes in pressure as the airplane’s altitude changes. 4.So you and others in your rowcould exit the row and airplane quickly and safely in an emergency.

Wanted:Online Adventure Seekers

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/celebratingflightDo You Wonder Why?1. Why do they push the plane from the gate?2. Why do we need oxygen masks in case of emergency?3. Why do my ears pop as we go up to and come down from cruising altitude? 4. Why do we need to have tray tables up and seats in their upright position for takeoff and landing?(Find answers at bottom of page.)

Ring Wing Glider

28

Aviation Fun!

11"

8.5"1 2 3

4

1. Fold 8.5 x 11-inch paperdiagonally as shown.

2. Make a half-inch fold along the previously folded edge.

3. Make a second half-inch fold.

4. Curl the ends of the paper tomake a ring and tuck one endinto the fold of the other.

5. Gently grasp the “V” between the two “crown points” with your thumbsand index fingers and toss the gliderlightly forward.

This wing demonstrates the great room there is for aeronautics innovation. Can you design a better wing?

The folds in the paper make an airplanewing where the front end is heavy and theback end is light. Curling the ends to makea ring changes the shape of the wing andimproves the wing’s flight performance.

Scavenger Hunt!! Find the answers to each of these in the previous pages.

• Why was Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, chosen for the test flights of the Wright brothers?

• What type of flying vehicle is credited to the “father of aeronautics?”

• Who was the first African American woman to receive a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) license?

• Who pioneered rubber-band-powered motors called aerodromes in the 1800s?

• What total distance did the first four powered flights of the Wrights’ 1903 flyer travel on December 17?

• What is the name of the remotely piloted aircraft that is being developed to fly at a high altitude for a long duration?

• How long was Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic?

• Name two early flight pioneers who used birds as the inspiration for flights using solar power.

• Who were the first passengers aboard a hot air balloon?

• Who was the first person to step on another world and when?

• What was the first commercial jet aircraft?

Answers1.Most airplanes do not move in reverse and so they need a push. 2.There is less oxygen in the atmosphere at higher altitudes. Airplanes are airtight andpressurized so passengers have the correct mix of air in the cabin. If there is a sudden change in the aircraft’s pressurization, a mask would drop to give passengersneeded oxygen. 3.Even though the cabin is pressurized, there are still slight changes in pressure as the airplane’s altitude changes. 4.So you and others in your rowcould exit the row and airplane quickly and safely in an emergency.

Wanted:Online Adventure Seekers

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/celebratingflightDo You Wonder Why?1. Why do they push the plane from the gate?2. Why do we need oxygen masks in case of emergency?3. Why do my ears pop as we go up to and come down from cruising altitude? 4. Why do we need to have tray tables up and seats in their upright position for takeoff and landing?(Find answers at bottom of page.)

Ring Wing Glider

http://www.nasa.gov

http://www.centennialofflight.gov

http://www.centennialofflight.af.mil

NASA Publication SP-2002-09-511-HQ

National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOffice of Aerospace TechnologyNASA HeadquartersWashington, DC 20546

In its more than 50 yearsof existence, the Air Forcehas become the world’spremier aerospace force.Its mission is simple inwords, yet awesome inmeaning—defend thenation through the control

and exploitation of air and space. To learn moreabout opportunities within the Air Force, call 1-800-423-USAF or visit http://www.airforce.com

NASA and its predecessor,the National AdvisoryCommittee for Aeronautics,have charted the course ofaviation and space technol-ogy since 1915. NASA’sworld-renowned achieve-ments, representing a suc-

cessful investment in the future of all Americans,are accomplished using less than one percent ofthe Federal budget. http://www.nasa.gov

The U.S. Centennial ofFlight Commission wascreated by Congress toexpand interest in thecommemoration of thecentennial of poweredflight and the Wrightbrothers’ achievement.

The Commission is coordinating a national outreachcampaign and advising the President, Congress,and federal agencies on the most effective ways toencourage participation in 2003. http://www.centennialofflight.gov