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Mike Okuda takes a moment to reflect on America’s heroes, on this significant
day in manned spaceflight -
Most of us who love science fiction are also admirers of the real-life
men and women who risk their lives to explore space. Today marks the
first of three solemn anniversaries of the bravery and sacrifice of
these extraordinary souls. For some unknown reason, although years
apart, each of these wrenching events occurred within a few calendar
days of each other.
On Friday, January 27, 1967, the United States space program was
stunned when a flash fire destroyed the Apollo 1 spacecraft, killing
astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White II, and Roger Chaffee.
Tragedy struck again on January 28, 1986, when frigid temperatures
caused one of Space Shuttle Challenger’s booster motors to burn
through, triggering an explosion in the sky that took the lives of
Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnick, Ronald McNair, Ellison
Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe.
And on a Saturday morning, February 3, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia
disintegrated during re-entry, some 40 miles up, scattering debris
across the United States and killing astronauts Rick Husband, William
McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark,
and Ilan Ramon.
NASA’s incredible successes with Apollo, the Space Shuttle, the
International Space Station, Mars rovers, the Hubble Space Telescope,
and so many other missions have made the dangerous business of space
exploration seem almost routine. But these three tragedies are harsh
reminders of how difficult it is to challenge the cosmos, for the
extreme environments of space will always be a dangerous and
unforgiving arena. These seventeen heroes gave their lives in pursuit
of the human exploration of space, in the hopes that their efforts
would help pave the way to a better tomorrow for all of us.
Mention should also be made of Valentin Bondarenko, Vladimir Komarov, Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Volkov, Viktor Patsayev – and Yuri Gagarin.
Amen to that.
Granted that the date of Gagarin’s first flight has become a more celebration-minded anniversary event by way of Yuri’s night. This is as it should be.
But, nonetheless, this occasion should also for us all, as November 11th is for those lost to war.
I remember the day when Challenger exploded like it was yesterday. I had the TV running in the background while I was building a HO scale building model. And suddenly, in the news, there was the word “exploded” instead of “lifted off successfully”…
Came across this entry while browsing through past weeks. I still remember the news on TV when Challenger exploded, I was sitting on the floor of our living room with my childhood friend sitting behind me.
For some strange reason, I always happen to switch to CNN when terrible things do happen. Same thing with the breaking up of Columbia.
Regards
Thorsten
I’d been at classes all day and not found out what happened until I got home and turned on the TV late that afternoon before dinner.
Amen to that, and the cosmonauts as well. (bows head)
I recall 01.28.86 well as I was home sick from work with a bad cold that day and saw there was a shuttle launch and thought, cool, I’ll record it. I threw a fresh tape into my Sony Betamax (which I still have set-up) and snuggled up on the couch to watch with glee, and then, it happened.
I (with no exaggeration) screamed/gasped OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! and crawled across the floor to my TV and touched the screen of the Y-shaped smoke trails, already crying, saying out-loud over and over again, No no no no no no….
I still have that Betamax recording, as I pulled it out and put it on the shelf with the rest of my NASA books. Over the years I have since seen footage of Challenger disaster on NASA-based programs, but I have never been able to watch that original Betamax tape of my own. It’s too close to home for me. The thought of viewing it makes it too real again. I only want to have to live that experience but once.
PLL,
deg