There’s not much I can add to the Columbia story, but watching the news coverage yesterday — I had to turn it off after a couple of hours, seeing as how there wasn’t going to be any “new” news for a while — I flashed back not to the Challenger explosion of 1986, but further back to 1981, to Columbia‘s first flight, the first ever space shuttle launch. I’m usually skeptical of our recollection of very early childhood memories, so I’m surprised this memory came back so vividly. I was just about four years old. The Columbia launch was a huge story, and on our little TV, the shuttle was so small, and yet here was a marvel of technology, several stories tall, with people on board, taking off into space. And remarkable was the fact that it would return to earth, landing like a plane, and return to space on almost thirty more missions including the ill-fated STS-107.
Peace to those we lost yesterday, and to all those who bravely and innocently risk their lives every day.
2 replies on “‘Columbia is lost’”
Such a very sharp memory. Was Sally Ride one of the astronauts in 1981? She was interviewed on TV yesterday.
I took a quick look at our photos at Kennedy Space Center, and the date on the back was July 1986. It’s humbling to think of these heroes’ achievements; as President Bush said, they have high purpose. They are in our prayers.
I looked up Sally Ride’s bio. Actually, her first shuttle flight was aboard Challenger in 1983. And a quick Cardinal note: she is a Stanford alumna, having received her undergrad (B.S. Physics, A.B. English) through doctorate degrees there.
And wow, it’s been ages since our trip to Florida, eh? Good times.