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In the 19th Century, author Jules Verne was thought to be an imaginative but totally unrealistic dreamer. His book, From the Earth to the Moon, was entertaining, but who thought seriously about flying to the moon? On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in Freedom 7, a Mercury spacecraft, atop a Redstone rocket that generated 78,000 pounds of thrust. America had placed a man in space for the first time. Ten brief months later, in February 1962, John Glenn circled the Earth three times, and America was indeed in the space age. A scant seven years later, in July 1969, Neil Armstrong planted both of his feet squarely on the moon saying "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Jules Verne had been a realistic dreamer after all. Space travel, once considered a fantasy, is now a reality. We have gone from the Earth to the moon, and are now setting our sights on the farthest reaches of the galaxy. |
| The Museum's Space Age area showcases the three NASA programs that collectively made it possible for man to land on the moon and return safely. In the Mercury Program we took our first hesitant steps in space. The Gemini Program followed, and we became more confident in our space exploration as we tested and retested our abilities. Finally, the Apollo Program was launched, and the accomplishments of America's Apollo space team are now legend -- men did, in fact, reach the moon and returned safely. Reproductions of all three of these historic spacecraft -- the Mercury, the Gemini and the Apollo -- are on display complemented by other space hardware. Our nation's Space Shuttle program is represented by scale models that depict the gigantic magnitude of the system; its important space mission is also described in detail. The Shuttle Orbiter is the heaviest space craft ever built, weighing 150,000 lbs. It has been designed to lift payloads up to 65,000 lbs. in its 60 ft. cargo bay. |
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The Shuttle's long-range function is to serve as a transport for the development of manufacturing and large-scale commercial operations in space as well as the construction of a permanent space station.
It is fitting that visitors finish their tour of the Museum at the Space Age exhibit, because space represents the latest era of exploration in which we are engaged. We have overcome the obstacles of flight above our home planet and are now solving the problems of space travel.
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