 We've grown used to wonders in this century, it's hard to dazzle us, but for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow. It's a simulation now, but soon it will be ready for Astronaut Crew-26. Selected to help this country return to space, their shuttle is called Discovery. Like other orbiters, it's named after scientific exploring ships of history. It's been made in the entire space shuttle system. Here's a look at some of those changes. It's been made in the design of the solid rocket motors, the white boosters used to help propel shuttles into orbit. Rockets are made up of segments, mated together prior to launch. Connections between the segments are called joints, redesigned to prevent hot gases from burning through. The new joints have undergone numerous tests at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama and Morton Fire Call in Utah. Test preparations were extensive, inspections. For some of the firings, defects were created both in the rocket's insulation and critical O-rings to ensure that backup systems work properly. The O-rings are one of the key sealing elements. As shown in this cross-section, the new field joint has an additional O-ring. Improved insulation and a metal lip called a capture feature are also included to better combat lift-off pressures. The case to nozzle joint, linking the upper and bottom most sections of the rocket, is redesigned as well. NASA engineers feel confident that the new rocket joints are rightful to string it well during the first 24 shuttle flights, even so over the last two and a half years. So are Commander Rick Hauke and his astronaut crew. Pinky Nelson, Dick Covey, Mike Lounge and Dave Hilmers, a team of shuttle veterans. Rick Hauke has flown twice before, including a mission which deployed two satellites and retrieved two others. The first ever space salvage effort. Mike Lounge and Dick Covey were part of a flight regarded by many as the most successful space shuttle mission so far. The crew launched three communication satellites and performed a successful on-orbit runway being repealed with another. Dave Hilmers was aboard Atlantis for its maiden voyage. And it was Pinky Nelson who flew a manned maneuvering unit out to the ailing Solar Maximum satellite. Solar Max was retrieved with the shuttle's robot arm, repaired and successfully redeployed. Nelson was also part of a crew that made a night landing at NASA's Dragon Flight Research Facility in California. Crew training regiments at the Johnson Space Center are demanding. Here, mission specialists Pinky Nelson and Mike Lounge practice spacewalking procedures in a crew to simulate latissimus. Dave Hilmers, a third mission specialist, works with the shuttle's robot arm. In between numerous exercises with their crewmates, Commander Rick Hauke and Pilot Dick Covey take the helm of this Gulfstream jet designed to mirror the shuttle's unique landing glide. Crew's main task will be to put into space a large tracking and data relay satellite called TDRS-C. The first TDRS, deployed by the STS-6 astronauts, has reduced the number of communication blackouts between shuttles and the ground. Once TDRS-C is in place, Earth-to-space contact will be almost continuous. They will also manage 11 in-cabin experiments, some commercial and two designed by students, before landing at Dryden five days later. The prestige and leadership that would have worked so hard over these 30 years to gain major commitments to our space station international partners. Several astronauts, including Rear Admiral Richard Truly, were given key management roles within the agency. As associate administrator for spaceflight, Truly has been the driving force behind all shuttle recovery efforts. Another astronaut, Brian O'Connor, was chairman of a spaceflight safety panel. Bob Cripper, who has flown a record four missions, is now deputy director for shuttle operations. As chairman of the mission management team, he will make the final go or no go decision on shuttle launches. I believe that's the way things should be run. You should have somebody in charge and delegated as a point of responsibility. New safety hardware introduced with Discovery's flight will allow astronauts to parachute from the shuttle in some emergencies. The equipment consists of a pole that can be extended out the orbiter's main hatch. Astronauts attach themselves to the pole and slide down. Once clear, they use their parachutes. Along with the quick escape system are the crew's new pressure suits containing the parachute, life support hardware, and a life raft. Here they practice drills with additional safety equipment, an inflatable slide similar to the type carried aboard commercial jet life. If an emergency develops on landing, the slide allows the crew to get out quickly. There are more fire detectors and protective barriers at the launch pads, plus improved slide wire evacuations. If a problem arises during launch operations, astronauts and pad personnel can jump into a cave and ride to the ground with an option to use a new safety bunker once there. As a result of tire wear problems during shuttle landings at Kennedy Space Center, researchers at NASA Langley study tire and runway characteristics. Once the tire is mounted in this carriage, 10,000 gallons of pressurized water will be released in less than two seconds, driving the down a track at speeds up to 250 miles per hour. Slow motion photography and instrumentation used to evaluate tire and runway surface performance. Kennedy is one of three landing sites in the country strategic to any shuttle flight. After extensive testing, engineers recommended that the surface be modified. A fine corduroy texture is etched lengthwise into sections at each end of the runway. Modifications in the shuttle's brakes, landing gear, and nose wheel steering will also improve landing capability. While technicians work on Discovery's payload bay, thousands of heat resistant tiles are inspected on the underside of the orbiter. After its three main engines are filled, the orbiter is moved to the vehicle assembly building. The solid rocket boosters and large external fuel tank then takes place. While Space Shuttle Discovery is ready for launch, a new orbiter moves through various stages of construction at Rockwell International in California. Having a four shuttle fleet is necessary because it takes two to four months after a mission to prepare an orbiter to fly again. To maintain the efficiency of this turnaround process, NASA is adding a second Space Shuttle Transporter. Like its sister ship, 747 Jetliner will ferry orbiters from the desert landing sites back to the Kennedy Space Shuttle. In the future, a mixed fleet of launch vehicles will be used rather than relying on a single transportation system. On manned, splendid rockets can carry the plunge. A successful main engine firing of the shuttle system fully assembled is one of the final steps in clearing Discovery to fly. But no matter how much effort is put into making the shuttle as safe and reliable as possible, there will be risks in the exploration of space. We are confident that we will launch and come back safely. But there are no guarantees associated with that, and there can't be. The only way you can guarantee that much safety is to never launch. The shuttle is a major part of this country's legacy in space. Tremendous payloads can be launched, retrieved, and restored. Weightlessness makes possible very large tasks, maneuvers important to the construction of a future space station. Efforts in materials processing and microgravity research have led to the creation of metal alloys and refinement of new drugs. The upcoming mission renews the commitment to these achievements and is a reminder of what makes them possible. It is people. It is everybody from the secretary, the person that sweeps the floor, to the engineer, the technician, to the management, to the administrator. It is people. And it is important that everybody out there understand that. The hardware is important, but it is people that make this program happen. When Discovery climbs into the sky over Florida, it will carry the hopes, squeeze people, and the entire nation turns to space.