Stargazing: Returning to the moon and a new space station
President John F. Kennedy inspired a nation to turn towards the stars and space exploration with a blazing speech of hope. The scope of landing a man on the moon in a decade’s time was herculean, comparable to the breadth of building the Panama Canal. But Kennedy, who died 59 years ago, launched a far greater impact on our lives in space than he might have imagined.
The first Space Shuttle was tested in 1977. The inaugural craft of the historic fleet was to be named Constitution. But science fiction fans campaigned in h a massive letter writing push and convinced NASA and President Gerald Ford that in exploring the frontiers of space, only one name would do, the Enterprise, honoring the Star Trek-famed starship.
Thirty years ago, the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched, continuing flights of the new technology which would become the first
source of transportation to the International Space Station. By 2022, people have been living and working continuously in space for 22 years. The practical benefits of a non-gravity laboratory have been immeasurable, including medical strides in cancer research and insulin improvements.
Next human steps to the moon will be from the Gateway Space Station, thousands of miles beyond ISS’s low Earth orbit. Gateway, designed to orbit the moon, will serve as the support post for a planned lunar return.