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A. Shuttle back in orbit
Two years after the Columbia tragedy grounded NASA's manned space flight
space shuttle Discovery returned NASA to outer space with a successful two-week
mission. However, anxious moments came after foam insulation knocked loose on take-
off caused a two-day delay in Discovery's return to Earth.
B. Science or religion?
Communities and school districts ferociously debated the merits of Intelligent Design,
a concept that asserts certain aspects of the living world seemed to be caused by an
intelligent source, rather than a random process such as natural selection. Opponents
claimed it was religion masquerading as science, while proponents insisted it should
be a respected point of view.

C. Space tourist
American scientist Gregory Olsen paid $20
million for a 1 0-day trip to the International
Space Station. Olsen, the co-founder and
chairman of his own fiber-optics company,
made the trip aboard a Russian rocket and
became only the third civilian to become a
"space tourist."

D. 360 around the world
Microsoft released its newest gaming system,
Xbox 360, just in time for the holidays and
prompted shoppers to camp out in lines to
gobble them up. The consoles were also launched with a new
expanded service from Microsoft that allowed garners worldwide
to play one another.
E. Generation MySpace
Teens continued becoming more immersed in the internet. MySpace.
com. an online social community geared toward young adults and I
mus1cians, became one of the fastest-growmg webs1tes on the
internet. Just two years old, MySpace's membership approached
50 million users and began getting more hits than Google and AOL.
Elsewhere, popular online encyclopedias like Wikipedia started to
be viewed as viable reference tools, despite debates regarding its
accuracy.

D