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Posted: 02.03.2003 Final thoughts on Columbia
Chris has a beautiful tribute for the STS-107 crew up at his site. weezer.com has a nice mission tribute as well.
Some people may see the rest of us as "in a tizzy" over this. But I like to think the fact I can hurt, feel, empathize and sympathize in this situation makes me human. And also American*. (* please note: no foreigners were intentionally harmed in the making of this entry) I have a close friend who's husband didn't make it home until several hours after he was supposed to be home this past week. The fear, and tears, in her voice as she couldn't reach him by cell phone are etched in our brains. If Todd is even 30 minutes late, my stomach is tied up in knots until he walks through the door. That momentary fear we all face now and again is a daily fear for the families of these astronauts and pilots. In the event of danger, the heavens and skies are much less forgiving than our local roads and Interstates -- no matter what the side-by-side accident rate comparison numbers may be. If you've ever feared for a loved one's return, just take a second to imagine what it would be like to be sitting in a public grandstand with all eyes -- and cameras -- on you, expecting a triumphant reunion. And just off to the side, a larger than life countdown clock ticking down every one-hundredth of a second until their arrival. And then that moment coming...and going...still ticking off every second they will never be home again. Rather than make a large tribute to every astronaut on the mission, which has been done so eloquently elsewhere (better than I ever could), I'm going to take a second to honor Commander William C. McCool. He wasn't just a national hero. He was a husband. A dad. And a huge Weezer fan, just like me. He even took the Blue Album up with him on this mission. But for 11 years in age difference, I could have known him. I dated a Naval Academy graduate and pilot. I also dated another Naval pilot for two years during and briefly post-college. That was not the path I was to take in life. But putting myself, even for just a split-second, in the roles of the wives left waiting in the stands yesterday really made me stop and think about the directions our lives take. And because I can put a face, personality and "might have been" to this name -- well, tizzy it is. I've been a fan of the Shuttle program since the very first launch. I would mail away for the mission packets and astronaut photos as a child. I tried in vain to watch Eileen Collins launch in Columbia and become the first female Shuttle commander in space. I wrote for VIP passes two years ahead of the launch hoping to watch that historic event in person. Unfortunately we were there for both scrub attempts (this one scrubbed just 6.5 seconds before liftoff), and my health took a nosedive before we could watch it launch in person the third, and final attempt. We did see Columbia on the launchpad twice for both scrub attempts, however. I had to settle for watching it go up from our apartment complex's parking lot. But we did get to use our second set of VIP passes for the launch of STS-92 on 10.11.2000, which also happened to be the 100th shuttle mission. It's one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. You may not realize that we can see the launches and landings from over here on the Gulf coast in Tampa Bay, but we can. However, NOTHING compares to being at the Cape just a mile away from the launch pad. It's something everyone should experience at least once in their lives. And for the sake of the seventeen astronauts we've now lost in the line of duty, I hope for their sakes the program will come back stronger and better than ever before! I believe they all would want it that way.  I hear what you're saying, Robyn, but being a big fan of the Shuttle program myself, you don't have to be American to "hurt, feel, empathize and sympathize in this situation makes me human"...:) ¤ ¤ credit: Antgrad | 02.03.03 at 03:59 AM | link- -this ¤ ¤ Ooops..copied to much there ¤ ¤ credit: Antgrad | 02.03.03 at 04:01 AM | link--this ¤ ¤I didn't say only Americans could do/feel that silly. ;-p It was a separate sentence entirely. Theres a lot of national pride and patriotism tied to our Shuttle program. ¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 02.03.03 at 04:19 AM | link--this ¤ ¤:P I feel half American anyway. ¤ ¤ credit: Antgrad | 02.03.03 at 04:59 AM | link--this ¤ ¤Nicely said, Robyn. ¤ ¤ credit: Scott | 02.03.03 at 11:13 AM | link--this ¤ ¤I hope they return stronger than ever also. I've seen the launches when I lived in FL and you're right, they are incredible. =) ¤ ¤ credit: Steph | 02.03.03 at 12:23 PM | link--this ¤ ¤I saw Commander Rick Husband's wife on the Today Show this morning, and I am in awe of her poise, and self-control at such a difficult time. Katie Couric asked her normal annoying digging questions, and almost brought her to tears at one point, but she really was a trooper, and didn't cry once. She talked about how the extra time that they had before this mission allowed the family members of the crew to all become very close, and how she had time with her husband in quarentine prior to the launch. She seemed so at peace with everything, and she was ADAMANT that her husband would not have wanted this to be a setback in the continuation of the space program. She really was an inspiration, as was her husband when he was among us. ¤ ¤ credit: Tracy | 02.03.03 at 01:22 PM | link--this ¤ ¤I will rpobably be flamed for posting this but just wanted to clarify a fact: Officially now 23 astronauts have died in the line of duty and oddly none have died actually in "outer space". 3 on the launch pad-Apollo, 7 during liftoff-Challenger, 7 during re-entry-Columbia, and the other 6 during other training accidents like flight proficency tests. These 6 were all during the early years of the space program. -this ¤ ¤Why would you be flamed for stating fact? I didn't include the ones from training exercises, because the 17 in my entry were actually ones that made it to the launch pads (even though Apollo 1 was testing). ¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 02.03.03 at 04:06 PM | link--this ¤ ¤(Hmmm... I'm going to have to get some of my photos and video up on my site...) I and a whole bunch of my "space buddies" went to the launch of STS-26 - the first launch after Challenger and the long delay while the investigations were going on and the fixes were being put in place. We had a pass, too, so we were onsite with thousands and thousands of other people that obviously felt the way we did - we had to go back into space. I'm wondering if I'll be requesting the passes again and going there for the next launch - when it gets rescheduled because my feeling is still the same - grieve, morn, find the cause, fix it, move on. ¤ ¤ credit: Michael | 02.03.03 at 04:07 PM | link--this ¤ ¤I was flamed last time. I understand your reasoning. There has been controversy about some of the first ones, NASA had said some weren't astronauts at the time, then years later said they were. Doesn't matter, they gave their life while serving their country. ¤ ¤ credit: Kevin | 02.03.03 at 04:14 PM | link--this ¤ ¤I don't disagree with that at all. Again, I was using a death-count based on at-launchpad (or beyond) stages. ¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 02.03.03 at 04:36 PM | link--this ¤ ¤Kevin, was it the "in a tizzy" comment? That was dumb. We only flame for dumb comments. You just stated a fact. Granted, you didn't add anything to why you stated that fact...add a little more to why you posted it. Maybe I'll want to flame you after that. ;-) ¤ ¤ credit: Tracy | 02.03.03 at 07:42 PM | link--this ¤ ¤No, that was not me. ¤ ¤ credit: Kevin | 02.03.03 at 10:01 PM | link--this ¤ ¤No, Kevin, you took exception to the fact that Robyn's way of honoring the crew of the Columbia was to not blog. Everyone has their own way of honoring the dead. Some blogged, some didn't, some changed what they blogged about. But telling someone they should blog, when it's their way of honoring the dead to NOT blog, is pretty lame. Sorry man...just stating the way I see it. **I'm swear I'm going to start posting a disclaimer that my comments are MY OPINION, and you can ignore it if you don't agree! ¤ ¤ credit: Tracy | 02.04.03 at 12:12 AM | link--this ¤ ¤I said I did not understand it, I was not slamming in any way, and I certainly DID NOT tell her she SHOULD blog. I was just stating I didn't understand it, and I thought the opposite should be true, she was not the only one to not post out of respect, I was speaking generally and not picking on her. ¤ ¤ credit: Kevin | 02.04.03 at 12:50 PM | link--this ¤ ¤
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