It was a colorful autumn afternoon in New England. A teenager climbed a cherry tree at his parents’ home to cut off dead limbs. As evening fell and stars became visible, he gazed into the sky imagining how “wonderful it would be to make some device that had even the possibility of ascending to Mars.” With that dream, Robert Goddard’s inspiration gave birth to America’s efforts to explore space.
A rocket thundering into space is a familiar sight for residents of Florida’s Space Coast. In the past two years, more than once a week windows rattle as launch vehicles send satellites to orbit and spacecraft on missions beyond Earth. However, those who were outside on a recent evening witnessed a rare spectacle. A spacecraft streaked across the night sky as four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
Throughout history, humankind has shared an innate trait – the desire to explore. Prehistoric men and women may have stood curiously at the opening of caves and wondered what was over the next hill. Centuries later, a teenager in New England envisioned a trip to a distant planet. With the rollout of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) mega-rocket and Orion spacecraft, the agency now is preparing a return to the Moon as a steppingstone to an eventual expedition to Mars.