|
2003-02-05 - 6:07 p.m.
What their sacrifice was for I�ve had Les Miserables mournful �Empy Chairs� song running in my head since Saturday morning. My friends, my friends don�t ask me,
What your sacrifice was for.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more. But, comfortingly, actually, I know exactly what their sacrifice was for. In the words of the mission command, Rick Husband, I think one of the legacies of NASA is that you always push forward. And STS-107 is doing that on the science side � pushing human knowledge forward.� Captain Brown�s brother asked him, the week before the Columbia launch, what would happen if something went wrong. His answer was, �This program will go on.�
�To leave behind Earth and air and gravity is an ancient dream of humanity. For these seven, it was a dream fulfilled. Each of these astronauts had the daring and discipline required of their calling. Each of them knew that great endeavors are inseparable from great risks. And each of them accepted those risks willingly, even joyfully, in the cause of discovery.� �Captain Brown was correct: America's space program will go on. �This cause of exploration and discovery is not an option we choose; it is a desire written in the human heart. We are that part of creation which seeks to understand all creation. We find the best among us, send them forth into unmapped darkness, and pray they will return. They go in peace for all mankind, and all mankind is in their debt. �Yet, some explorers do not return. And the loss settles unfairly on a few. The families here today shared in the courage of those they loved. But now they must face life and grief without them. The sorrow is lonely; but you are not alone. In time, you will find comfort and the grace to see you through. And in God's own time, we can pray that the day of your reunion will come. �And to the children who miss your Mom or Dad so much today, you need to know, they love you, and that love will always be with you. They were proud of you. And you can be proud of them for the rest of your life. �The final days of their own lives were spent looking down upon this Earth. And now, on every continent, in every land they could see, the names of these astronauts are known and remembered. They will always have an honored place in the memory of this country. And today I offer the respect and gratitude of the people of the United States.� -Excerpts from President Bush�s address at the Columbia Memorial service
The Columbia crew were my kind of people. They had a fighting kung-fu hamster as their crew mascot. And they spent their lives pushing human knowledge forward.
For more than thirty years, the Apollo 11 lunar lander has rested on the moon, in the Sea of Transquility. On the ladder, Neil Armstrong left a plaque which reads, in part,. �We came in peace for all mankind.� Do you know it took the work of over 30,000 people to put a man on the moon? In the corner of the Air and Space museum is a picture of a stadium full of people, which is the entire complement of the Apollo team. It is amazing this endeavor of space exploration ever works at all. I join all my NASA colleagues in honoring their sacrifices by continuing on, grieving but undaunted.
�
�
Scribble to Theo
previous - next
�
| 
