The Royal Air Force mottos says it all really: "Per ardua ad astra" or "Through struggle to the stars".

Fifty years ago tomorrow is the anniversary of man's (Yuri Gagarin's) first leap into space. In that time both the Americans and the Russians have lost brave men and women while struggling to reach the stars. Whilst our non-manned satellites have visited every planet in the solar system, thus far man has only set foot on the moon. Just twelve men have managed that feat but it has taken thousands more to get them there. Now, of course, not just the Americans and Russians are in space. So many nations have got astronauts and space really has become multinationally cooperative. Whilst we still fight each other on the ground it is reassuring to know that up there, in space, men and women get along just great and their homelands cooperate wonderfully now to see it happen

Tomorrow I will look to the sky and reflect on those 50 years, the lives of those who have lived and died in space or trying to reach it, and carry on hoping that some day soon mankind returns out there...

Vladimir Komarov   Soyuz 1   parachute failure

Georgi Dobrovolski   Soyuz 11 crew   exposed to space vacuum
Viktor Patsayev
Vladislav Volkov

Greg Jarvis   Space Shuttle Challenger crew   exploded
Christa McAuliffe
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Michael J. Smith
Dick Scobee

Rick D. Husband   Space Shuttle Columbia crew   broke up on re-entry
William McCool
Michael P. Anderson
David M. Brown
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel B. Clark
Ilan Ramon

There have been other crews lost too whist training for missions. I am not sure how many in Russia but I think the most memorable in the 'Space race' were:

Gus Grissom   Apollo 1 crew   burned to death in test: capsule fire
Edward White II
Roger Chaffee

May they all be remembered tomorrow


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