First there were the test pilots — men in possession of what Tom Wolfe called “the right stuff” — who took flight in experimental aircraft. Then, there were the men of Apollo who planted the American flag on the lunar surface. The space shuttle program followed, and the face of the American astronaut changed. They now looked more like America — women and men of many races and vocations. They were even construction workers of a sort as they began building the International Space Station, one of the greatest engineering achievements since the Great Pyramids.

Source: International New York Times July 16, 2019 10:30 UTC