NASA and The Wizard of Oz
Two Different Worlds with the Same Mindset

Although NASA and The Wizard of Oz would not be considered to have anything in common at first glance, closer examination reveals that the two both share the same ideas.

Intelligence: Like the scarecrow who wishes for a brain, NASA engineers also use their brains to plan the complex missions that take place every year. These missions require pin-point accuracy when charting courses for the space shuttles, probes, and satellites that help scientists gain a knowledge of outer space.

Courage: Although NASA strives for minimum risk in its shuttle program, it still takes an immense amount of courage to sit atop two solid rocket boosters containing over one million pounds of propellant that carries astronauts 330 miles above sea level. True courage is facing the challenge and confronting any fear that one may have. The lion overcame his cowardliness with the help of the wizard and does not let fear control his actions.

Heart: The tin man's gift from the wizard was a heart. With a heart the tin man is capable of feeling compassion for his friends. The people of NASA also feel compassion for people and have an impact in the communities that people live in day after day. One of the most recognizable impacts NASA has on your life in on your bed. Temper foam was designed by NASA engineers to prevent injury in plane crashes. It has been incorporated into pillows, mattresses, furniture, and automobiles, and animal prostheses. NASA has had a hand in improving everything from computer software to toothpaste. To learn more about how NASA has an impact on you, visit http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/nasacity/index.htm for a self-controlled virtual tour of all the areas of society that NASA has influenced.