Read "Ushering in the Final Frontier -- Manned Spaceflight" on The Huffington Post Science.
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"I am a friend, comrades, a
friend!" Those were the first words from the "Columbus of the
Cosmos" Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin, to a woman and a girl near where
his capsule landed on April 12, 1961. Mankind's first giant leap took place on
this day, which was a very huge one. It is even fast assuming an extremely
significant relevance on the space calendar vis-à-vis the future of humanity
beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
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| Yuri Gagarin - Citizen of the Universe |
Exactly twenty years after this
flight, on April 12, 1981, the American Space Shuttle program had its first;
Columbia STS-1 launched astronauts John W. Young, an Apollo veteran -- the
ninth person to walk on the moon in 1972, and Robert L. Crippen to Space. April
12 wasn't particularly chosen for this launch, but the original planned date
had slipped off for technical issues. Until their retirement with Atlantis
STS-135 in the third quarter of 2011, these reusable space vehicles were the
flagship of manned spaceflight since the Apollo times.
Twenty years after the launch of
STS-1, and forty years after Yuri's flight, in 2001, "Yuri's Night"
was started to commemorate this flight of the Columbus of the Cosmos, and to
mark this launch of Columbia. It will be held on April 12 across the globe by
space enthusiasts and institutions, essentially in the U.S., and the Russian
Federation. And I am proud to mention here that the co-founder of this
spectacular night, Loretta Hidalgo-Whiteside was the recipient of the maiden
Todd B. Hawley Visionary Award in 2005.
The International Space University
with its permanent site in Strasbourg, France, has been the academic home of
space professionals, and training ground for emerging space leaders across the
globe. ISU's first program, the space studies program, practically modeled
after "manned spaceflight" -- of leaving the base to some
destinations -- with its unprecedented 'on-Earth' and 'off-Earth' yearly SSP
sites, started in MIT and has moved to most continents of the world. It was
founded by its three visionaries: Peter H. Diamandis, Todd B. Hawley and Robert
D. Richards in 1987. The institution's ever-lasting credo was written out by
these visionaries on April 12, 1995.
This year, ISU celebrates her 25th
year -- the silver jubilee of actively producing space leaders that have gone
ahead to shape the future of space programs and activities on Earth and in the
cosmos around. Talking here about the cosmos -- at the 2040 horizon, ISU is
even more determined to establish the "off-Earth campus to form a core
element of the University's educational and societal actions related to
exploration and technology development."
Just a few years ago, specifically,
in 2007, the international space community led by the United Nations
commemorated 50 years of active space exploration -- marking the launch of the
first satellite, the Russian SPUTNIK-1 which was launched into space in 1957
(also, International Geophysical Year) heralding the beginning of the Space
Age. Serving as a National Coordinator for Education and Public Outreach of
this UN-led program, International Heliophysical Year, I marked April 12, and
explored the ideals of "scientific but people-oriented education, SPOE:
Art and Humanities in Science and Technologies" -- a concept I formulated.
A scientific education and outreach program was organized for a public model
school in Lagos, Nigeria, captured in a national daily. And in collaboration
with Stanford University, live research equipment was demonstrated for the
students - educating them about the sun, manned spaceflight and exploration. I
taught them about the encompassing nature of knowledge; and therefore softened
the science with art. The students received talk on world citizenry, career
possibilities that culminated in a Q & A session. We went ahead to dance to
popular local tunes! And the results? The students got inspired -- they wanted
to become everything from astronauts, to surgeons, engineers, scientists, and
even a "space artist." Some of them are already in some leading
universities preparing for their dream careers, and are being guided under the
Young EarthSpace Scientists (YESS) program.
There's an emergence of a new manned
space order. The perfect docking between Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 (a prototype
space station) in 2011 has laid a perfect foundation for manned spaceflight in
China. Shenzhou-9 is expected to launch the first people to its "Heavenly
Palace," the crew may include the first female taikonaut in the third
quarter of this year, Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of the country's
manned space program recently declared. This number will be joining the six
Chinese astronauts launched on three missions to orbits starting with Yang
Liwei, on Shenzhou-5 mission.
India has been really inspiring too,
with their novel scientific satellites and vehicular programs also shooting for
the moon. New opportunities are now open to all; even African nations now have
recognizable participation in small satellites, astronomy and, after sixty
years of the IAC, held its first congress in Africa last year.
We are
indeed in a golden era of active space exploration. The science research
community now has unprecedented opportunities to contribute to international
standard research. The ISS is delivering dividends to its owners and by
extension to the scientific community worldwide. There is an emerging sub-orbital
industry. Private companies are now venturing beyond the sub-orbital --
building rockets that may reach the other planetary bodies. Elon Musk is set to be the first
entrepreneur to put a man
in orbit. What exciting times we are in.
To take a cue from the foremost
rocketry theorist, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, who lived from 1857 to
1935: "Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in the cradle
forever."
In essence, to usher in this next
future --the final frontier -- these three significant occurrences of Yuri's
flight, launch of STS-1, and the founding of ISU are enough to seal the 12th of
April as the "World Manned Spaceflight Day". This could mean having a
more holistic program planned for this day, every year, programs that could
encompass the ideals of manned spaceflight, exploration and education, etc., in
the daytime. And of course, further popularize the social event of Yuri's
Night, which has done so greatly in making this day very popular worldwide.
This is not to undermine the UN-supported "World Space Week" of October
4, which technically marked the launch of SPUTNIK-1. Space is vast, and in
order for humans to further take the giant leaps of colonizing the other
planets -- terraforming and living on there -- we need to ensure the growth of
humans into multiplanetary beings and some more emphasis has to be paid to
manned spaceflight. We can start by dedicating April 12 of every year to manned
spaceflight in its entirety. Ad Astra.
