Pilots, “Flyboys,” and Astronauts

Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis in Paris in 1906.

The Mercury Seven, the first Americans to travel into space, quickly became national idols.

Television and the comics all helped glorify “spacemen”. An especially popular character was Buck Rogers.

Amelia Earhart’s achievements, as well as her mysterious disappearance, helped bring flight to the public’s attention.

Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet Union’s first person in space, was dubbed “Columbus of the Cosmos.”

Alberto Santos Dumont’s No. 6 airship rounds the Eiffel Tower to win the Deutsch Prize, 1901.

The Wright brothers were the first successful airplane pilots. This photo shows the first powered flight, December 17, 1903.