Marshall Space Flight Center a future goal of manned flight, monkeys Able and Baker were the first living creatures recovered from outer space on May 28, 1959. They had been carried in the nose cone on a Jupiter missile to an altitude of and a distance of , successfully withstanding 38 times the normal pull of gravity. Their survival during speeds over 10,000 miles per hour was America's first biological step toward putting a man into space. On October 21, 1959, President Eisenhower approved the transfer of all Army space-related activities to NASA. This was accomplished effective July 1, 1960, when 4,670 civilian employees,
Miss Earth 2008 by Billy Crawford, international singer and actor from the film , Miss Earth 2004 winner Priscilla Meirelles, and Miss Earth Canada 2006 Riza Santos.<ref name="abs-cbnnews-entertainment/11/09/08/philippine-bet-miss-earth-2008"></ref><ref name="gmanews-story/132519/PEP-Ms-Philippines-wins-Ms-Earth-pageant"></ref> The following special awards were officially awarded during the grand coronation night: Final Question in Miss Earth 2008: "If you have the chance to speak to the newly-elected US President Barack Obama about the state of the global environment, what would you tell him?"<ref name="times-weekend/20081116week1.html"></ref> Answer of Miss Earth 2008: "What I would tell to the newly elected president of the USA, being one of the most powerful countries in the world, I would