aerospace giant lockheed martin they'll join with boeing in a joint venture called united launch alliance the americans use the already one eight as their first stage engine on their workhorse applets five rocket previous editions of the atlas launchers used three engines in place of the one powerful enough to go march model the already one eighty produces nearly a million pounds force of thrust with the thrust to weight ratio more than fifteen times that of the engines used to fly just supersonic concorde jet since the r d one eighty first gave the atlas five a lift back in two thousand and two there have been two dozen successful launches for american military commercial and space equipment but not all the hardware on board the atlas five has been american in the summer of two thousand and nine an unprecedented move mapping mission was launched with the help of russian ingenuity in february two thousand and eleven the kremlin rolled out the red carpet to recognize the innovative work of young space research institute scientists maxine mckew and until one sun in whose lunar exploration new trying to t

hemispheric relations. 50 years ago, president kennedy launched the alliance for progress, pledging that the united states would join with latin american leaders to address head-on a development challenge that was, as he put it, staggering in its dimensions. he understood that our failure to tackle poverty and inequality in latin america could tear the social fabric and undercut democracy's prospects throughout the hemisphere. president kennedy announced the alliance here in washington to an audience of latin american ambassadors at the white house. president obama will mark this anniversary in latin america. i think that is fitting. too few americans have noticed that something remarkable has been happening in the region. there are, of course, plenty of challenges and they often hog the headlines. transnational crime, poverty, inadequate education, and so on. those are challenges that apply in many cases, including in our own country. but the real story of latin america today runs in a very different direction. it is a story of political transition and a broad commitment to democratic development, a story of pragmatic leaders who help