I remember it as if it was yesterday. 12th April 1981, I was 11 and the first Space Shuttle takes off. Columbia blasted off onto the sky and I was sure it was going to go horribly wrong. However it did not and the mission was a success. the only real hitch was some of the tiles fell off the vehicle and it had to be repaired before re entry.

However 5 years later my pessimistic predictions were brought to fruition with the Challenger Disaster when the shuttle exploded during take off killing all seven astronauts.

 Not All Low Points

The shuttle missions have reached some high points with the launch of many satellites, the launching and fixing of the Hubble telescope and its involvement with the building of the International Space Station. They have even had Russian cosmonauts on flights.

However Columbia also had its own disaster when it was destroyed on re entry 15 minutes before completing its 28th mission.

So today, weather allowing the shuttle will fly for the last time. America is retiring its fleet as it cuts its budgets. Nothing is in place to replace it and NASA will have to rely on Europe and Russia for contact with Space.

Supa Swap would like to take its hat off to all the men and women who have worked and especially those who have given their life to this project. Somehow space will not quite be the same.

It is not often that we a Supa Swap get to see a royal wedding but this year we had the opportunity to follow two. After the lavish wedding of Wills and Kate (now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) we have now had the wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock.

Charlene who was 33 years old, was rumoured to have been having second thoughts but last Friday the ceremony went ahead. She is a previous Olympic swimmer and the couple met in 2001 while she was taking part in an event in Monaco.

The two were married in in civil ceremony but this was followed by a Catholic ceremony in the Palace court yard.

The guest list for the event was as lavish as the event itself. Guests included the Bond actor Roger Moore, Karl Lagerfield, Giorgio Armani and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Music for the ceremony was composed by French composer Jean Michel Jarre and the event was caped by an extravagant fire work display.

We all wish them the best for the future.