n the summer of 1966, America’s space program raced forward with Gemini flights in Earth orbit while new facilities were built to meet President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon. During that time, NASA provided an opportunity to view work going on inside the gates of the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. In years to come, the visitor complex became one of the premier attractions in Florida.
“Liftoff of Discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one American legend,” said launch commentator Lisa Malone of NASA Public Affairs as the Space Shuttle mission STS-95 flew into orbit on Oct. 29, 1998. While it was a flight in the late 1990s, it was reminiscent of NASA’s storied past. An international crew lifted off with John Glenn, a member of the Mercury program’s Original Seven astronauts.
On Feb. 15, 2020, a Northrop Grumman spacecraft was launched atop an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Cygnus capsule, christened the “S.S. Robert H. Lawrence,” will deliver more than 7,400 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. The name honors the first African American to be selected as an astronaut.