On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard became the first American astronaut to explore the “new ocean of space” that President Kennedy had so often talked about. Now, 40 years later, we have rejoiced over landing on the moon, had our hopes dashed with the Challenger disaster and recently looked toward the future of the space program as we launched a new probe to explore Mars.

During the 1960s, there was a space race between the U.S. and Russia to determine whether the American astronauts or the Russian cosmonauts would reach the moon first. Now, controversy is brewing again between the superpowers, because Russia has allowed American businessman, Dennis Tito, to pay $20 million to fly to the International Space Station.

While NASA felt that it was a safety risk for Russia to sell tourist trips to the unfinished space station, their concerns fell upon deaf ears. Being that Russia is a full partner in the space station, they claimed they could fill their seats with whomever they chose.

And Tito is not the only California millionaire who wishes to visit the space station. Academy Award-Winning director, James Cameron, has been in contact with NASA officials about boarding the shuttle, although Cameron says he will wait until the space station is completed.

What do you think about the future of the U.S. Space program? Do you think that Dennis Tito should have been allowed to buy his way into space? Do you think tourists should be allowed on the space station when it is completed? Should there be a hefty price tag attached if regular citizens want to explore the International Space Station?

Carolyn Lastowski, Editor