When you live in Australia, everything elsewhere in the world happens while you’re asleep. I woke up this morning and switched on my computer to discover that the Space Shuttle had disintegrated, killing all the astronauts. How awful. I was at Kennedy Space Center in 2000 to see the shuttle land. The most amazing part was how un-excited everybody seemed. It was like the act of leaving and returning the Earth had become somehow routine. I also remember when the Challenger blew up in ’86. Much like Punky Brewster, my dream had been to be an astronaut and my courage was shaken by the disaster. I just hope this doesn’t lead to a cessation of the current space program. (The Snook’s reaction this morning: “Damn. Guess we won’t see them go to Mars in our lifetime.”)
Mia
February 2, 2003 — 4:38 pm
Yeah, it was kinda creepy. This morning (Saturday morning) I heard a noise, kinda like fireworks in the distance? I actually thought it was my neighbors banging on the walls again. I didn’t know what happened until maybe noonish, when I saw the news. And on the way to my aunt’s office, all the computerized highway signs said “IF YOU SPOT SHUTTLE REMNANTS, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT.” Which I think is retarded because as morbid as it sounds, if I find a piece of shuttle, I’m taking it home and putting it on eBay. This is just me, tho.
Kristen
February 2, 2003 — 10:25 pm
i was in the air when this happened, and when i saw the comets of shuttle remains on tv, it took me a while to figure out what had happened. at first i thought i was watching some sort of recap on the challenger disaster
martin
February 2, 2003 — 11:43 pm
I think if someone tried to sell shuttle remains on ebay then they might get a visit from the FBI or the someone or other at some point.
What struck me was that everyone had to state that it wasn’t a terrorist act. Thats kind of sad that people have to say that nowadays.
I hope it doesn’t stop the exploration of space. I mean if the europeans had balked everytime they lost a ship then maybe Australia etc may never have been found? Besides better to spend money on that than bombing people.
Frances
February 5, 2003 — 6:13 am
Here is a link to President Bush’s comments about the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11319-2003Feb1.html