From discoveries about possible life outside our planet, to providing by satellite the ability for the entire world to share in the grieving over Princess Diana, space was the news and made the news possible.
Some people claim that space is no longer relevant or even interesting.
I say, look at the last 12 months. Without space and the scientific advances space brings to all of us here on Earth, we would not have had the medical devices that saved lives in cities and towns throughout the country, we would not have known about approaching storms, and we would not have been able to share the joy and pain we have felt from news, sports, and entertainment events brought to us live from around the globe. Perhaps the highlight of the year was the successful landing of the Mars Pathfinder on July 4. The Pathfinder and a rover that gathered information on the chemical composition of rocks on the red planet sent back 2.6 billion bits of information, including more than 16,500 images that captivated all of us. I assure you, there is much more to come.