
With a founding mission to explore the unknowns of space for the benefit of humanity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration often served as the poster child for futurism. As the twentieth century drew to a close, the agency reflected on the thirtieth anniversary of its most historic achievement—Apollo 11—and envisioned the next. Like the responses to climate change and Y2K, the new project would require immense global cooperation.
Texas remained at the center of American space exploration, with Johnson Space Center in charge of human spaceflight operations. NASA launched nearly 100 Space Shuttle flights between 1981 and 1999. Among them were the first to include women astronauts. On January 29, 1998, officials from 15 countries established a governing framework for the International Space Station—a joint research laboratory in low Earth orbit. Assembly began in November, with element delivery becoming a primary objective of Space Shuttle missions. The space station welcomed its first crew with Expedition 1 on November 2, 2000, and has been continuously occupied ever since.
With a founding mission to explore the unknowns of space for the benefit of humanity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration often served as the poster child for futurism. As the twentieth century drew to a close, the agency reflected on the thirtieth anniversary of its most historic achievement—Apollo 11—and envisioned the next. Like the responses to climate change and Y2K, the new project would require immense global cooperation.
Texas remained at the center of American space exploration, with Johnson Space Center in charge of human spaceflight operations. NASA launched nearly 100 Space Shuttle flights between 1981 and 1999. Among them were the first to include women astronauts. On January 29, 1998, officials from 15 countries established a governing framework for the International Space Station—a joint research laboratory in low Earth orbit. Assembly began in November, with element delivery becoming a primary objective of Space Shuttle missions. The space station welcomed its first crew with Expedition 1 on November 2, 2000, and has been continuously occupied ever since.
With a founding mission to explore the unknowns of space for the benefit of humanity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration often served as the poster child for futurism. As the twentieth century drew to a close, the agency reflected on the thirtieth anniversary of its most historic achievement—Apollo 11—and envisioned the next. Like the responses to climate change and Y2K, the new project would require immense global cooperation.
Texas remained at the center of American space exploration, with Johnson Space Center in charge of human spaceflight operations. NASA launched nearly 100 Space Shuttle flights between 1981 and 1999. Among them were the first to include women astronauts. On January 29, 1998, officials from 15 countries established a governing framework for the International Space Station—a joint research laboratory in low Earth orbit. Assembly began in November, with element delivery becoming a primary objective of Space Shuttle missions. The space station welcomed its first crew with Expedition 1 on November 2, 2000, and has been continuously occupied ever since.