God Rest Their Souls
I grew up near Edwards Air Force Base and remember being dragged outside by my stepfather when the very first Space Shuttle to take flight landed - it was the maiden voyage of the Columbia we lost today, STS-1. I watched it streak overhead on its way to the lake bed landing site and felt the sonic boom of its passing and knew that history had caused it, that for one small moment I could claim that history as mine. We were surrounded by friends and neighbors who had worked on the Shuttle program in some capacity, from aeronautics engineers to test pilots to the people who stuck those fragile heat-shielding tiles all over the Shuttles’ bellies. I remember being thrilled that they’d named the prototype Enterprise - I was convinced that was thanks to Mr. Spock’s shining example of scientific prowess. I remember playing with the models that my stepfather had all over his office, and asking questions about each and every part of the engines. I thought the payload crane was cool, but was always much more impressed with the ginormous exhaust assemblies - that people would actually choose to strap themselves to a huge bomb and light the fuse, in the hopes of gettting higher up in the gravity well than wishing and hoping could ever take me. I wanted to be a test pilot then an astronaut, but had disqualified by second grade due to severe nearsightedness. But I never stopped wishing or hoping.
I remember that so many people in our community were devastated by the loss of the Challenger - they took it intensely personally, as if physics itself had failed them. My prayers go to the families of the astronauts we lost today, and to everyone at NASA who fears they let those astronauts and America’s space program down. As the astronauts’ families are saying, let’s find out what happened, fix it, and continue onward. Let the sacrifices of all those who died in space or on the launch pad not be in vain… And this gray spirit yearning in desire / To follow knowledge like a sinking star / Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.