NASA and its daring astronauts showed again this week that they can face danger, ad lib and succeed in space – all while furthering our knowledge of the universe.
President Bush said it well Tuesday – the amazing shuttle trip, covering 5.8 million miles in 14 days, “regains the confidence of the American people” following the Columbia accident in 2003.
Discovery landed safely Tuesday morning in California after a series of events and experiments, some planned and others a surprise. It helped show why our nation’s space program deserves strong support despite significant risks and costs.
The successful mission also bodes well for UW- Madison. Our great university has had strong ties to the nation’s space program dating back to the 1950s.