ABSTRACT
In a short span of 100 years, we have gone from making a few test flights to orbiting celestial bodies, from sliding along sand dunes to spanning oceans, from performing feats of isolated daring to depending on aviation in our everyday lives. Speeds have increased a thousandfold, as have altitude and range capability. No longer is the sky the limit. Ahead lie risks and rewards as vast as space itself. We have the promise of new airliners that fly with greater fuel efficiency, of huge air freighters that move the nation’s goods, of an expanding general aviation fleet, and of the peaceful uses of space for exploration and research.
