Continuing the Voyage: The Spirit of Endeavour

摘要

The exploration and development of the space frontier is the most technically challenging endeavor of our generation and there are many to follow. In carrying forward with this mission, we are building on the exploits of our forbears in their own missions of human exploration and scientific discovery. History's lessons can be applied to the challenges that NASA faces today in space exploration and scientific discovery. The Royal Society of the UK was one of the primary benefactors to many maritime explorers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, in many respects, NASA is carrying on in the same tradition of combining exploration and scientific discovery that the Royal Society initiated centuries earlier. In fact, NASA named two space shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour, in honor of the sailing ships used by Captain James Cook, one of Britain's notable explorers. The command ship on the Apollo 15 mission was also named Endeavour. This presentation considers the connection between certain lessons from Captain Cook's initial South Pacific Voyage on the Endeavour, to the work NASA is carrying out currently in exploring the planets, moons, asteroids, and comets of the solar system.