The United States Government Manual 2003/2004, Preface, Contents

• Pages: i-ix

The United States Government Manual

2003/2004

Office of the Federal Register

National Archives and Records Administration

Revised June 15, 2003

Raymond A. Mosley,

Director of the Federal Register.

John W. Carlin,

Archivist of the United States.

On the cover: Celebrating 100 years of American powered flight. Photographs courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

(NARA) and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum

(NASM).

The birth of powered flight was the most monumental accomplishment of the early 20th century. As humans began to soar through the sky toward an inevitable destiny, pilots and their flying machines were shepherding a new way of life for American society--one that was unparalleled and that would define the core of America's lifestyle, her approach to war, and international relations--while gradually carving a permanent path for man and machine to travel through the skies and to explore and develop space.

While Wilbur and Orville Wright are the pioneers of powered flight, aviators such as Charles Lindbergh, Bessie Coleman, Amelia Earhart, the Tuskegee Airmen, Charles (Chuck) Yeager, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Ronald E. McNair, and numerous others are heralded as heroes in this ongoing journey of discovery. And without innovators such as Curtiss, McDonnell, Boeing, Douglas, Goddard, Northrop, Grumman, and others--barnstormers, airmail, transatlantic flights, atomic bombs, rockets, and space shuttles might never have been possible.

From that historic day on December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was born 12 perpetual seconds in history that introduced the world to a timeless experience of powered flight and boundless space discovery. That journey took us from Orville Wright's maiden flight on the Flyer 1 to NASA's Space Station in the abyss of space. This year we proudly celebrate 100 years of powered flight in all its glory and with anticipation of all the possibilities yet unfulfilled in mankind's wondrous imagination.

Special thanks is extended to NARA and NASM for photographs used in developing this year's cover. See the identification key on the opposite page for a description of each photograph.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area

(202) 512-1800

Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001

ISBN 0-16-051455-X

T193760.070

Photos:

1. Wilbur Wright and the 1903 Flyer 1 (18-WP-6543, NARA).

2. Apollo 15 astronaut David R. Scott, on the moon (306-AP-AS15-88-

   11863, NARA).

3. World War II Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots (208-MO-18H-22051-FA, NARA).

4. Amelia Earhart, first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean nonstop (237-

   G-141-15, NARA).

5. Dr. Ronald E. McNair, space shuttle Challenger astronaut (99-15502, NASM).

6. Charles A. Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis, first nonstop Atlantic Ocean crossing (237-G-121-1, NARA).

7. President Harry S. Truman's DC-4 Presidential plane, Independence

   (237-G-143-8127, NARA).

8. Charles (Chuck) Yeager and the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, first to break the sound barrier (A-2013, NASM).

9. North American F-86 Sabre, first swept-wing U.S. Air Force jet fighter (74-3342, NASM).

10. Rutan Voyager, first nonstop flight around the world (2001-7671, NASM).

11. Lockheed C-69 Constellation passenger airplane (94-10745, NASM).

12. Claude Grahame-White, taking off near the Executive offices, Washington, DC, 1910 (111-RB-5118, NARA).

13. Space shuttle Discovery launch (2002-19479, NASM).

14. Orville and Wilbur Wright and the 1904 Flyer 2 (18-WP-22440, NARA).

15. Lawson Airliner, early passenger plane (18-WP-4496, NARA).

    ...