The World Mourns - Your Thoughts on the Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy

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The loss of the Colombia crew is was both startling and painful in its suddenness. Our hearts go out to the family and friends in this time of sorrow. We will mourn their passing and hopefully remember their contributions to the brighter and nobler aspirations of our society and civilization. As questions are raised about where do we go from here, we can look to history for some answers. The streets of Edwards Air Force Base are named for the test pilots that gave their lives in developing the new aircraft and spacecraft of the 20th Century. Those test pilots pushed the envelope as they reached for the sky. When an accident occurred their sacrifice and accomplishments were honored, a street was named for them and their brethren flew ever higher and faster since this was the most fitting tribute to their efforts. We must dedicate ourselves to flying higher and farther, (can you say the Moon and eventually Mars), in their honor.

On May 8th 1927 Nungesser and Coli, French Aviators, departed Paris for New York. The news startled Charles Lindbergh who was completing the checkout of his Ryan Aircraft monoplane. The French team went missing somewhere over the Atlantic and Lindbergh would race across the United States in record time. Linbergh joined Admiral Byrd and other flight teams who were assembled at Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island. On May 20th weather cleared and .The Spirit of St. Louis. departed for Paris and flew into history. The loss of the French aviators was acknowledged but the urge to explore and expand our horizons was not delayed.

Charles Lindbergh's achievement paved the way for other exploration and discovery. He became the toast of the town in New York. When he heard of a science teacher in Massachusetts who was developing a liquid fueled rocket he arranged for the Guggenheim Foundation to provide a $50,000 grant to Robert Goddard. Goddard would follow his dreams and develop his rockets outside of the desert town of Roswell New Mexico. Lindbergh would accept a job as advisor to the fledging airline industry and he would travel the world charting the air routes. He blazed the London to Australia air route and after he met and married Anne Morrow the daughter of the US Ambassador to Mexico he laid out similar airline routes in Mexico, Central America and South America. While flying over the Yucatan this newlywed couple spied and photographed the Mayan temples that peeked through the jungle canopy. A civilization, lost for 1000 years, had been rediscovered.

Charles Lindbergh's flights and discoveries were legendary. Yet on his deathbed .The Lone Eagle. said that he was blessed to have lived long enough to see another Eagle when it landed on the Moon! Humanity.s urge to explore is an innate aspect of our romantic and intellectual well being. Our comrades will have their names added to the Apollo 1 and Challenger memorials. I do hope that we remember that those streets at Clarke city on the Moon and Zubrinopolis on Mars would carry the names of all astronauts and aviators who have flown the final mile for all of mankind.

Ad Astra

What brave , courageous, so well-educated , Americans and friends. May you rest in the arms of Jesus. Your sacrifice can never be repaid. God bless America and the devastated remaining family members.We will hold you up in prayer.

Your faces and footsteps will be forever in our memories and thoughts. The Columbia is not a space shuttle - it is seven brave men and women who risked and lost their lives to enrich those of us left to mourn. May you rest in peace among the stars and our hearts.

My deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers to the families and loved ones of the crew.

On February 1 2003, President George W. Bush concluded his sad announcement of Columbia's destruction with these words:

"In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens who created all these. He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them, each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

"The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to earth, yet we can pray that all are safely home.

"May God bless the grieving families and may God continue to bless America."

Over half a century earlier, on September 3 1941, the following words were written by John Gillespie Magee, Jr:

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Magee was an American who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before the United States had entered into WWII.. He was killed in 1941, the same year he wrote the poem "High Flight," while flying a Spitfire fighter. He was 19 years old.

Courage to do what one believes is right knows no age, no gender, no nationality, no religion. Those who have shown that they had "the Right Stuff" have been men and women, Black, White, Hispanic, Native American and Asian, Christian, Jew, Sikh and Buddhist, American-born, naturalized citizens, and citizens of many allied nations.

In 1967, the crew of Apollo One died doing what they believed was worth the risk. One of those three, Gus Grissom, before his death said these words:

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."

The crew of Columbia must have understood this risk. They looked it in the face and made their decision that what they were doing was worthwhile, even as they remembered the crews of Apollo One and the Challenger. On January 28 2003, Columbia commander, Rick Husband, spoke the following words in memory of those who had gone one before, even as at Johnson Space Center, 10 bells tolled, one for each of the astronauts who had died:

"It is today that we remember and honour the crews of Apollo 1 and Challenger. They made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives and service to their country and for all mankind.

"Their dedication and devotion to the exploration of space was an inspiration to each of us and still motivates people around the world to achieve great things and service to others."

There will be those who will say that we have over-stepped our boundaries by going into space. There will be those who will say that manned space flight should end; that it is too costly in dollars and in human lives. There will be those who will say that all of the benefits of space; medical research, global mapping and communications, research in astronomy and physics and chemistry, etc.... that none of that is worth the cost.

But the American people must decide that question. The crews of Apollo One, Challenger, and Columbia truly "touched the face of God" in their endeavors. Will we say that their sacrifices were in vain? Or will we take up the torch... and carry it even farther?

There were to have been plans presented this month by NASA. Plans for going on to farther destinations and greater goals. Plans for sending men and women to Mars within the next decade. Some people will now say that such ideas should be set aside.

But if you believe that the United States should learn from our mistakes, correct them, and go on to do even more marvelous things, then make your feelings known. Contact your Senator and your Congressman. Tell them that the USA should not back down, now or ever, from the challenge of space exploration.

Wow, What a shock. Especially in such trying times.

Like 911 and the loss of Challenger, the loss of Columbia and her crew will surely test the resolve of the American people to continue the struggle and the search for for all those things better than we have today.

I am Australian. And like many folks from around the world I follow the activities conducted by NASA and all the world's space agencies with wonder and a hefty amount of envy for those who participate in these great deeds.

I share their spirit for exploring and marvel at the pure magnifigance of the universe in which we live.

I to would be happy to risk my life for the chance to adventure to the stars.

Heads up.

Let us mourn the loss.

Just as rightfully let us celebrate the lives of the brave crew. I am sure they would not want the effort they put into the space program to be wasted simply because they died. What a terrible thing that would be to do them. They were so dedicated. That is why they risked their lives.

They loved their work.

Also

Think of the courage the next crew will need to apply when next the space shuttle launches and carries mankind just one more step into the future.

Wow, What a shock. My heart goes out to the families of the crew.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences on the loss of the Columbia and its crew, your beloved friends and colleagues. We also are so sad that the research conducted aboard the spaceship was lost as well.

My family and I are in mourning and praying for all of you at NASA and the families of the astronauts who were lost. We believe wholeheartedly in the mission of NASA and the extreme importance of continuing our exploration of space. I truly hope this terrible tragedy will not reduce support and funding for your many valuable activities.

A terrible tragedy, brought on by a recurrence of the old tile problem? When the shuttles were first being developed, difficulties were encountered with the heat shield tiles falling off. Is it possible that the object one observer saw detaching from the shuttle was a section of tiles? Perhaps the section covering that area of the hull that experienced a sudden increase in temp.

Sincere condolences to the families of the fallen.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of the astronauts and to the NASA community. Every meaningful exploration of our world and our galaxy involves danger and risk. We should never forget that people put their lives on the line every day in order to extend the boundaries of human knowledge.

Words, will not do. We have all been diminished.

A very sad loss. I was shocked when I saw it on tv. This the second time this happened.

If we must bare such losses, I cant think of no more noble reason then Columbia's mission. Seeking knowledge and pressing back frontiers in so many ways. And what frontiers! We can honor them by carrying on thier mission, for they felt it was worth it to risk all, for all mankind. Let us continue thier work in whatever ways each of us can, in that way Columbia and her brave crew shall live forever. Lets make them proud of us, and in that way they are home with us again.

Hail Columbia, welcome home.

Marc Z

Well, this is the 3rd time in my life that I have seen tragedy befall America's human spaceflight program. I, as many other have realized, that after Challenger, there would be another disaster in the Space Shuttle program. I had hoped for many years after the return to flight that if something bad happened that it would be during a time that a flight crew could either safely make a landing either during an Abort Once Around at White Sands NM, or a Trans-Atlantic Abort to one of the numerous emergency sites in Spain and Africa; or, be able to bail out and get rescued at sea.

Tragically, none of those scenarios took place. I come from a space family, for my father worked for Boeing during Gemini and part of Apollo.

As a small child I remember the shock that befell everyone of us at the Cape when we lost Gus Grissom's crew on Apollo 1 when they had the fire.

I cried hysterically when I learned of Challenger, and now I am just numb and in shock about Columbia.

I love these men and women and their loss diminishes us all. We have to push forward and we must complete the ISS and get the best science results we can from it and then push on to the Moon to stay this time.

My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones on the shuttle. I hope these brave soles work will not go in vain. I just cried all day as my heart is saddened. I love the space program.

In times of loss the nation needs to comfort the families that have lost loved ones. We must not forget the journey that this brave group started, but must continue so that their loss will not be in vain. Our prayes are with the families and with all of NASA at this time.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of the crew of Columbia,during this difficult time. May they find comfort in knowing that their loved ones are not lost but that the Lord has safely guided them home.