Forty-eight years ago, John F. Kennedy set a grand plan in motion. His State of the Union address pushed the United States to its limits. Better training methods, and many schools for future astronauts have made a big difference in the level of the training, ability and intelligence of the future crews of American spaceships. Now, even with interest dwindling, and problems piling up, Americans have to try their best to stare in the face of adversity, and look at the big picture - the endless "playground" known as outer space.

But history of astronauts would not be complete with out a more detailed information about some of the more famous astronauts. John Glenn, the first American in orbit on the Friendship 7 flight, was a pilot of over ninety missions in the Korean War (Kramer, 18). Chosen for his experience as well as his bravery in the war, he rose to the rank of Colonel in the US Marine Corps before going into NASA. He trained on crude machinery, before NASA came up with a set training program (20). He was 42 when he flew for the first time in his orbital mission (34), and he later became a Senator (39). Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, both flew in the Apollo 11, and were the first two people to walk on the moon. They will always be remembered for their historic feat. Both Armstrong and Aldrin were 39 when they flew the Apollo mission. Armstrong was the first civilian in space, and in his first flight, he was the commander of the Apollo 11 mission. "Buzz" Aldrin was a Colonel in the US Air Force, and he was also chosen for his flying experience. Because Americans have lost interest in the space program without competition, there has not been another crop of astronauts as famous as those since the days of the Apollo mission.

What is in the future of the space program ? Eventually, people will settle on the planets close to earth, if not because of exploration, but because of a lack of natural resources, which is catching up with mankind. Prototypes of human habitats on Mars are being made, and NASA hopes to have humans on Mars by 2050. The International Space Station should be well on its way to being built, and should be functioning in the next five to ten years (http://polarlander.jpl.nasa.gov, Future). New cheaper satellites and explorers are also coming in the near future. The new explorers with plasma propulsion are already in design, and are going to cost no more than one million per unit greatly slashing today's price. They are also going to have a virtually inexhaustible fuel capacity, because of the special engine design using metal for fuel. This explorer will be so affordable that they could be sent out in many directions to explore countless star systems, and still be inexpensive enough to lose (Chaikin, 60). Plans that are being talked about right now may be a little far fetched sometimes, but even if some of them will materialize, the future looking bright indeed.

Although most of the missions that have been launched have been important in their own ways, some missions just stand out, whether it was the first step on the Moon, or the first mission to Mars. NASA's first high profile program was Project Mercury, an effort to learn if humans could survive in space. It was the prelude to the later missions, and it gave NASA the necessary data to build better, and more comfortable ships for humans to stay in space for extended periods of time. The first launch of th

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Approximate Word count = 2302
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)