Explorers: Earth, Air & Space Preview

This tour contains three types of stops:

• HONOR stops mark the gravesites of specific individuals.
• REMEMBER stops commemorate events, ideas, or groups of people.
• EXPLORE stops invite you to discover what this history means to you.

Throughout its history, the U.S. military has explored — first over the earth via land and sea, then into the skies, and finally into space. One of the first military explorations was Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark’s 1804-1806 expedition to lands west of the Mississippi River. The 30-odd men of the Army Corps of Discovery mapped regions, collected specimens, made observations for scientific discovery and sought trade routes and opportunities for both commerce and national defense. These multiple, overlapping objectives set the standard for future military expeditions. Today, the military continues to fund exploration and research, to the benefit of the military and public.

• Byrd received the Medal of Honor for completing the first flight over the North Pole in 1926.
• Byrd was the first person to fly over both poles of the Earth.

• Discovered and confirmed the existance of Antarctica.
• Lead an expedition which collected over 60,000 plant and bird specimens.
• Mapped many of the Pacific islands.

• Bingham brought the Western world's attention to the ruins of Machu Picchu.
• Bingham led the excavation of Machu Picchu in 1912.

• Powell led two explorations of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon.
• As the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Powell helped establish its tradition of mapping the nation.

After Neil Armstrong took “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969, NASA began looking for its next mission to push the bounds of exploration and discovery. At the time, NASA Administrator Thomas Paine dreamed of an ambitious exploration of space, including a piloted expedition to Mars. However, NASA was facing budget cuts and waning public support for the space program. With political support from the Air Force, NASA decided to develop a space shuttle program, which would feature reusable spacecraft that would enable regular missions to space. President Richard Nixon authorized NASA to develop the space shuttle program on January 5, 1972. The first shuttle launch took place nine years later, with the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) on April 12, 1981.

The space shuttle was the world’s first reusable spacecraft, and it was large enough to carry and deploy satellites, which were of particular interest to the military. During the 30 years of the space shuttle program, NASA carried out thousands of scientific experiments in space, studying human health, engineering, astronomy and physics. It also transported the materials for and the astronauts who built the International Space Station, which still operates today.

Across 135 missions, the space shuttle program suffered two accidents. The Challenger and Columbia memorials honor these astronauts who “lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery.”

• One of NASA's seven original astronauts.
• John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, circling it three times in his "Friendship 7" capsule on February 20, 1962.
• Served four terms in the U.S. Senate.

You may have noticed that this walking tour features a lot of men. Until recently, societal expectations and misogynistic ideas about female capability greatly limited opportunities for women to set out as explorers. However, women still contributed to the success of expeditions and the men who led them. In this “Explore,” you will meet the wives of the male explorers featured on this walking tour — many of whom are buried alongside their husbands.

As you read about these women, think about what it would have been like to be married to an explorer.

• What struggles and fears do you think these women had in common?
• What did it mean to “be supportive” of their husbands?

For most of these women, very little information is publicly available, or they have been remembered almost exclusively through their connections to their husbands.

• What other information do you wish you knew about them?
• What kind of information is lost when we only focus on “great men” in history?

• Henson trekked to the North Pole in 1909 as part of what was reported as the first successful expedition to the North Pole.

• Stone piloted the first successful transatlantic flight.
• He helped develop naval aviation technology and test flew almost every type of aircraft in use during his career.

You've reached the end of the Explorers Walking Tour. We hope you enjoyed your time exploring the cemetery and learning about the lives of these explorers!

You can find additional content and resources on the Arlington National Cemetery Education Program website or through Arlington National Cemetery's STQRY.