space is such a challenge. james: i am james michener. for most of my working years on this planet, i have been chronicling the rise and fall, and if there is one thing i am convinced that, is that enemies do not destroy nations. time and the loss of will brings them down. to see that it does not happen to this nation of ours, the united states cannot retreat from the challenge of our age. narrator: each era of human history progresses to a point at which it is eligible to wrestle with the great problems. the ancient greeks, it was the organization of society. for the medievalists, the spelling of their relationship to god. for the men of the 15th and 16th centuries, the mastery of the ocean, and for us, it is the determination of how mankind can live in harmony on the finite globe we call earth, while establishing relationships to an infinite space. >> ok, that is on. we are ready for final suit pressure adjustment. james: i am struck with wonder at the energy expended by thousands of people, not only in the united states, but around the