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FROM THE WRIGHT BROTHERS TO MARS IN
ONE CENTURY
excerpt
One
of the most amazing journeys made by Americans in the 20th century
was the voyage that began with the Wright Brothers first flight
and ended with a man on the moon, a robot on Mars, and an International
Space Station bringing together world powers.
The first leg of this flight began shortly after the turn
of the century when the Wright Brothers -- inspired by Otto Lilienthal's
gliding flights in Germany -- began flying gliders near Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina. The individual to thrust airplane flight
into the minds of the American public's consciousness was Charles
Lindbergh.... Public perception of flight changed virtually overnight
and the airline industry took off...Amelia Earhart's accomplishments
and the mystery of her death as she sought to be the first person
to circle the globe have made her name live on throughout the
century. When the space race began in the late 1950s, the United
States was running in second. But, not for long. After the Soviet
Union placed the first man in orbit in 1961, John F. Kennedy
and the nation just wouldn't have any of it. JFK promised the
U.S. would be the first country to land a man on the moon. And,
we did...Today American spacecraft have explored more than 60
worlds in our solar system, revealing the secrets of how the
universe was formed.
To fly is everything.
Otto Lilienthal
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