For many years now scientists have been working toward fulfilling the dreams of fiction writers who, unhampered by the law of gravity or the tremendous heat generated by re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere, routinely sent men traveling to and fro in space to settle the “Final Frontier.” With the successful launching of the ninety-ton Columbia in 1981, fact moved closer to fiction. Although it will still be a long while before the space stations familiar to Flash Gordon and Star Trek fans are built, the advent of a manned, reusable spacecraft, capable of carrying large quantities of materials in its sixty-foot-long cargo bay, means that such dreams are no longer mere fantasy.