Ronald Reagan

“ Sixteen years ago, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts sent a message to Earth: "The Eagle has landed." In a dramatic and compelling moment in history, the first humans had reached solid ground beyond our own planet.
To understand Earth systems we must understand our solar system and the universe beyond. Remotely controlled satellites have been sent on missions to Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter. If all goes well, the outer planets Uranus and Neptune will be studied as the Voyager spacecraft passes by in 1986 and 1989, respectively. ”

“ Scientists around the world eagerly anticipate the results.
The space shuttle continues to demonstrate and expand its capabilities with each successive flight. Within the past year, satellites have been launched from the shuttle's bay, repaired in space, and retrieved and returned to Earth for repair. We have conducted missions in which a European-designed and -built scientific laboratory-Spacelab-has flown in the shuttle bay's gravity-free environment during which data in a wide range of disciplines have been acquired, materials tested, and chemical reactions monitored. ”

“ In that brief period, more has been learned about the cosmos and our relation to it than in all the preceding centuries combined. The ever-increasing knowledge gained from peaceful space exploration, and the uses to which that knowledge is put, potentially benefit all those aboard Spaceship Earth. ”