Jan. 31, 2007
RELEASE: 07-17
NASA TO FLY HISTORIC JAMESTOWN ARTIFACT, MEMENTOS ON SPACE SHUTTLE
HAMPTON, Va. - To honor early American explorers, NASA will fly into
space four coins and a nearly 400-year-old artifact from historic
Jamestown. The items will be aboard space shuttle Atlantis during
mission STS-117, targeted for launch in March.
The artifact, a metal cargo tag reading "Yames Towne," was unearthed
at Jamestown, the site of the first permanent English settlement in
the Americas in 1607. Upon completion of the flight, it will have
logged more than 4 million miles during four centuries, traveling
from England to Jamestown and round trip to the International Space
Station. Two sets of Jamestown commemorative coins, authorized by
Congress and recently issued by the U.S. Mint, also will fly aboard
Atlantis.
Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra presented the artifact
and coins to NASA Langley Research Center Director Lesa Roe at
AeroSpace Day in Richmond Wednesday.
"This exploratory shuttle flight connects our adventurous past with
the innovation and continued intellectual curiosity that guides our
future as we commemorate America's 400th anniversary," Virginia Gov.
Tim Kaine said. "We embrace that future by contemplating Jamestown's
pivotal role as the place where our nation's defining characteristics
- democracy, free enterprise, cultural diversity and the spirit of
exploration - took root."
The tag, found at the bottom of a well during an archeological dig at
the site of James Fort on Jamestown Island, most likely is a
discarded shipping tag from a crate or a trunk arriving from England
around 1611.
"This artifact clearly marks Jamestown as a destination -- our
nation's first 'address.' It demonstrates the development of trade
patterns crucial to the survival of the colony," said William M.
Kelso, director of archaeology at the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Kelso leads the Jamestown
Rediscovery Project that has unearthed more than 1 million artifacts
at the site of the first permanent English settlement in America.
"NASA is proud to be entrusted with this piece of exploration history
and to participate in the commemoration of America's 400th
anniversary, highlighting the next phase of America's exploration
vision," said Roe. "Remembering the spirit of adventure that led to
the establishment of Jamestown is appropriate as this country works
toward establishing a permanent outpost on another planetary body."
Each commemorative coin set contains a $5 gold piece and a silver
dollar with visual references to Jamestown's legacies. When returned
from space, NASA will present one set to Governor Kaine for display
at Jamestown Settlement, a 17th century living history museum. The
second set will be displayed at the National Park Service's Historic
Jamestowne Visitor Center.
NASA will return the shipping tag to Historic Jamestowne for display
in its Archaearium, a new archaeological museum showcasing items
unearthed during the past 13 years in excavations that include the
long-lost remains of James Fort. For centuries, the fort was believed
to have eroded into the James River.
NASAs program to return to the moon then venture to Mars and beyond
continues the legacy of exploration and discovery initiated 400 years
ago by America's earliest explorers. To learn more about NASA's
long-term exploration goals, visit:
http://www.nasa.govFor more information about the commemoration of Jamestown's 400th
anniversary, visit:
http://www.americas400thanniversary.comFor more information about Historic Jamestowne, visit:
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http://www.historicjamestowne.org-end-