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02/04/2003: "Hail Columbia"
Ah, Columbia…
Ever since Mike and I came in from the barn Saturday morning and heard the radio - saying WHAT! that communications with the Shuttle Columbia had been lost; that Columbia itself - and all seven Souls on board - was lost, shattering in the skies over my home town, Dallas, Texas, my grief has been equaled only by my anger. Anger at budget cuts that put NASA on the ropes. Anger that we have billions for aggression - yes AGGRESSION - against Iraq but no money for our future. If indeed, we HAVE a future…
I’ve been living and breathing the Space Program since before there WAS a Space Program. In grade school, I read books about astronomy and dreamed of being astrophysicist some day. Unfortunately, a brain that was not structurally equipped to handle that kind of mathematics - dyslexic and strong Right Hemisphere dominance - ended that dream early on. But, then there was Sputnik, and the race was on.
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo - I hung on every word, broadcast and print. I wept through the tragedy of the Apollo fire, stayed glued to the TV/radio during the awful suspense of Apollo 13. Oh, but the JOY of Apollo 11! To actually WATCH LIVE as the first Human set foot on the Moon! It’s something I will NEVER forget, and the sense of awe will never lessen. It’s indescribably incredible to me that, after the Apollo program, we never went back…
Despite the relentless budget cuts, we still had the Shuttle Program. Even after the horror of Challenger, we went on, and perhaps we shall continue yet. But the Shuttles are OLD - Columbia was the oldest - and there is no money to even upgrade those, let alone design and build new, better craft. NASA can’t even afford to retrofit the Shuttles with ejection seats. Probably wouldn’t have helped in Columbia’s case, but…
Grief and anger. Anger and grief. Hail and Farewell, Columbia. We will never forget.
