Past, future meet with Jamestown-NASA partnership

NASA and planners of the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English colony in America are working together to tie the 1607 founding of the &to=http://english.pravda.ru/cis/2002/08/19/34809.html' target=_blank>Jamestown settlement to modern space exploration, they said Friday.

The space agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton and Jamestown 2007 will collaborate to develop exhibits focusing on exploration in the past, present and future. Events will be planned from spring 2006 through fall 2007.

"Exploration is the essence of the human spirit," Langley's director, Lesa Roe, said in a statement. "The drive to explore the unknown has been one of the constants in the history of the nation."

The premier event will be America's Anniversary Weekend, on May 11-13, 2007, a national observance of Jamestown's founding. President &to=http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/16096_Bush.html' target=_blank>George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush, and Queen Elizabeth and other members of the British royal family will be invited to attend.