SPACE.com -- From Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Beyond : A Celebration of Flight in Midtown Manhattan

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, tells New York Public School 183 students Tuesday, July 29, 2003 in New York's Rockefeller Center, how he flew in his space capsule, shown at right. The program for the School for Discovery in New York was part of the kick-off of the centennial of flight exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic flight. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey)

A replica of the 75-foot Mercury Redstone rocket stands in the background as astronauts Edwin Buzz Aldrin, left, and Ken Bowersox share a moment in July after the opening of an New York exhibit commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey)

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	From Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Beyond : A Celebration of Flight in Midtown Manhattan By Tariq Malik Staff Writer posted: 08:15 pm ET 29 July 2003

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NEW YORK, New York -- A small squadron of airplanes and spacecraft used midtown Manhattan for a tarmac Tuesday during a celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight.

Mockups of experimental NASA planes, military aircraft and even the original Wright Flyer were present during the "Centennial of Flight" exhibition hosted by Rockefeller Center.

"The Wright brothers believed that their airplane was possible," said former astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon, as the exhibition opened. "But they could not have imagined that it would lead to thousands of people departing this city by air at night to reach Europe the next morning, or that rockets would propel spacecraft through the atmosphere and away from Earth.

Orville and Wilbur Wright made their historic 12-second flight on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. And while some contend they weren't the first to make a flyable powered-aircraft, they are credited with the first manned, powered, heavier-than-air and controlled flight. Amanda Wright Lane, the Wright brothers' great grand-niece, represented her family during the Rockefeller exhibit's opening ceremonies.

In the 100 years since their pioneering flight, air travel has become a ho hum affair and humans routinely live aboard the International Space Station. The Rockefeller exhibit commemorates advances in flight with outdoor and indoor displays at Rockefeller Center Plaza. Others in attendance on the opening day included Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the Moon, Tuskegee airmen -- the first African-American military pilots -- and NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox.

"I think this anniversary is a chance for us to realize how lucky and how special the achievements we've made are," Bowersox told SPACE.com. "And it's my hope that it gives children and adults alike the inspiration to keep going to do a lot more."

In addition to the Wright Flyer, the Rockefeller exhibit includes a full-scale replica of the Redstone Mercury rocket that carried the first Americans into space. Other mock-ups include a version of NASA's X-43C hypersonic scramjet, a Navy Harrier jump jet and the silvery blade of a solar sail designed to propel the spacecraft Cosmos 1 around Earth orbit later this year. The exhibition runs through Aug. 18.

"I think this is exciting because it's very important to fly above the Earth and in space so we can explore," said 9-year-old Rhys Athayde, who attended the exhibition's opening with other students from New York Public School 183. "And it's not everyday you get to meet an astronaut."

With the first century of human flight nearly gone, some in attendance looked to the future and space. Bowersox, for one, hopes more people will get a chance like he did to look down upon the Earth and marvel at how small it looks compared to the vastness of space. Others, however, expect to be completely surprised.

"Looking into the future is like looking into the fog," said Armstrong. "But we can be certain that the next century, and even the next decade, will be filled with new invention."

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