AVIATION AND SPACE FLIGHT HAVE TRANSFORMED THE WORLD. In little over a century, as chronicled here in the pages of The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia, the barriers of time and distance have come tumbling down under the unrelenting pressure of new aerospace technologies. As travel times have diminished, the movement of people around the globe has brought nations together, greatly facilitated commerce, and changed all our lives in unimaginable ways. Space travel has fired the imagination while communications satellites have ushered in a new era of instant information. Navigation satellites have revolutionized personal travel while making commercial air travel safer and more efficient. These and other changes have drastically altered how the world is governed and how it does business. They have also transformed how and what we now know about our universe. Just as important, but in a much more sobering way, aviation and space flight have made war more destructive. So destructive, in fact, that in some instances the new technologies have raised the stakes high enough to actually prevent global conflict, although regional struggles still flourish with unfortunate regularity. Today, air power is a key to victory in most conflicts.
This revolution is not just a tale of technology; more importantly, it is a story of people, of groups and individuals, of companies and nations. The Spirit of St. Louis would be just a collection of steel tubes, spruce lumber, and cotton fabric without Charles Lindbergh, the courageous young man who first flew the width of the Atlantic—alone—in this simple, frail aircraft. Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong correctly summed up his place in history when he described his pioneering arrival on the lunar surface as “one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” He never forgot that he was only the vanguard for thousands of people who labored night and day in order for him and 11 other astronauts to walk on the Moon. His mission was driven by the efforts of an entire nation and it served to inspire the world.
This delightfully engaging volume presents a wonderful collection of facts and anecdotes that help to put a human face on the history of aviation and space flight. Entertaining, fun, and eminently readable, the book reveals a host of intriguing facets of air and space travel while underscoring how much better connected the world is because of it, and how much the world now depends on it.
Almost all of these fascinating stories involve people and events that loom large in the remarkable assemblage of aerospace objects that has educated and inspired the public for decades at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. From the world’s first successful airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer, to the Space Shuttle Discovery and almost every significant aviation or space flight object in between, the museum tells the exciting, complex story of these critical technologies. Included too is Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia.
These technological innovations and the people who made and tested them have played a critical role in forming the modern world and will remain equally vital in shaping our future. So the next time you fly off on business or vacation, or watch a live broadcast of your favorite sports team, or navigate your way home, thank the Wright brothers and the aerospace pioneers who followed them.
John R. Dailey
Director
National Air and Space Museum