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04/12/2007: "Columbus Of The Cosmos"

So where were you on this day in 1961? Me? I was probably in or near my crib, as I was less than two years old at the time. But if you were Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, you were strapped in the seat of your Vostok 1 capsule waiting for your compatriots to light the fuse on the really big candle you were sitting atop.

It's easy to get jaded about space travel. Even with the tragedies that have beset both the American and Russian space programs, lots of people have made the trip to orbit. Heck, even as we speak, American software billionaire Charles Simonyi is floating around in the International Space Station as the latest "spaceflight participant" - ie, someone who shelled out $20 million for the ultimate getaway.

But in 1961, nothing was certain about spaceflight other than this: rockets blow up - often. The American public had seen on live TV just how fragile boosters were, as nationally-broadcast launch efforts had gone boom. The Russians had the same kind of problems, only we never knew it because of the secrecy of the Cold War. But Gagarin knew all about it as he waiting on the booster.

You can argue that Yuri's brief flight pales in comparison to the month-long space station missions of today, but someone had to be first. His name was Yuri Gagarin, and we salute him.

Twenty years later, another untried spaceship sat on a launch pad. High atop the rocket sat John Young and Robert Crippen, the first crew of the space shuttle Columbia. The technology had changed by leaps and bounds, but the danger had not - once again, someone was going to light that candle. Ironically, the mission wasn't even supposed to launch on Gagarin anniversary. The planned launch date was April 10, but even back then they had shuttle delays.

The space shuttle program has brought its share of triumph and tragedy. The shuttle has brought outer space into our living room, as we watched hundreds of astronauts perform their duties. But it has also cost fourteen lives, a constant reminder of the razor-thin margin for error.

With the emminent end of the shuttle program, America will go through a prolonged period during which our only access to space - and the International Space Station - will be by hitching rides with the Russians, whose Soyuz capsules have changed little since Gagarin's time. There will be a national debate about the role and cost of space exploration, and many will argue against it. Whatever the feelings, know this - the next Gagarin, Young and Crippen are waiting for their chance to advance human exploration.