Measuring Progress

Every so often one needs to benchmark progress – and as halting as the US space program has been (and apparently will continue to be for sometime to come) progress is being made.  Witness the almost non-chalant nature of the EVAs this week as part of STS-117’s mission to the ISS to deliver and install additional solar array panels.  Consider this – about forty-two years earlier (03-07 Jun 1965) the first American stepped into space for a 22-minute space walk.  On STS-117 there were no less than 4 EVAs – three scheduled to install components on the ISS delivered by the shuttle, and a fourth to effect repairs to a portion of the thermal blanket on one of the OMS pods.  But enough of words – imagery is the lingua franca of the space program and is presented herewith for your enjoyment (more on the other side):

  Ed White – June 1965

  STS-117 (Patrick Forrester – Mission Specialist) June 2007

  Gemini 6 (Dec 1965)

 ISS June 2007