February 3: A Vote Promised, Music Silenced, and A Shuttle Soars

February 3 connects three American stories—when the Constitution promised voting rights that would take another century to fully realize, when a plane crash killed three musicians and ended rock and roll's first innocence, and when a Space Shuttle mission demonstrated humanity's growing mastery of orbital operations. These moments remind us that rights written on paper require enforcement to become real, that tragedy can strike at the height of success, and that every achievement in space builds on lessons learned from previous missions.