In the coming days our nation will pause to mourn the loss and honor the tremendous legacy of our 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan. President Reagan’s boundless optimism about America manifested itself in many ways. Among them was his energetic and unbridled support for NASA’s space exploration program. Less than three months after he took the oath of office, on April 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched on its first mission, and after a six-year hiatus, Americans were back in space to stay.