Space

Margaret Chase Smith prepares to break the sound barrier and join the Mach Busters Club by flying in a F-100F Super Sabre jet in 1957.

Major General Robert A. Rushworth, a native of Madison, Maine, prepares for an X-15 flight in 1963. He was a test pilot and the second US fixed-wing astronaut to fly higher than 50 miles.

Photo courtesy of Shirley Richard Estate

Project Mercury Astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, John Glenn, and Alan Shepard with Senator Smith on February 28, 1962.

Statement by Senator Smith on July 16, 1969 about the Apollo 11 Moon mission:

" I pray first for the safety and the safe return of the three astronauts. I then pray for the successful completion of the mission.

If the mission is successful than the commitment to which John F. Kennedy pledged this nation a little over eight years ago--to put a man on the moon and return him safely--will have been fulfilled through the follow-through efforts of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.

If the mission is successful, then recognition should be given to all of the thousands of dedicated people who made it possible--not the least of whom is James E. Webb, who never lost his faith, dedication and determination through the most trying times when the program was under intense attack.

If the mission is successful, then the United States will have made a most dramatic comeback from the dark days of Sputnik."

The top photo from April 24, 1970 shows Astronauts James Lovell and John Swigert during Senate hearings on the Apollo 13 mission; while the bottom photo shows Senator Smith and Senator Clinton Anderson listening to the testimony.

What was significant about the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 missions?