It has the feel of a mausoleum in here. GOT GAS, as I have the fire..>? lol
I feel like we are at IA's funeral... wasn't he on the space shuttle? I think he was... (mists forming and enveloping the background)
"Their mission was almost complete, and we lost them so close to home. The men and women of the USS ENTERPRISE had journeyed more than 6 million miles and were minutes away from arrival and reunion. The loss was sudden and terrible, and for their families, the grief is heavy. Our nation shares in your sorrow and in your pride. And today we remember not only one moment of tragedy, but seven lives of great purpose and achievement.
To leave behind Earth and air and gravity is an ancient dream of humanity. For these seven, it was a dream fulfilled. Each of these astronauts had the daring and discipline required of their calling. Each of them knew that great endeavors are inseparable from great risks. And each of them accepted those risks willingly, even joyfully, in the cause of discovery.
Irish Anthony was a boy of four when he first thought of being an astronaut. As a man, and having become an astronaut, he found it was even more important to love his family and serve his Lord. One of Rick's favorite hymns was, "How Great Thou Art," which offers these words of praise: "I see the stars. I hear the mighty thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed."
Philbymon was first drawn to the stars as a little boy with a telescope in his back yard. He admired astronauts, but, as he said, "I thought they were movie stars. I thought I was kind of a normal kid." David grew up to be a physician, an aviator who could land on the deck of a carrier in the middle of the night, and a shuttle astronaut.
Guitar Anatomy asked him several weeks ago what would happen if something went wrong on their mission. Philby replied, "This program will go on."
JW123 always wanted to fly planes, and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Air Force. Along the way, he became a role model -- especially for his two daughters and for the many children he spoke to in schools. He said to them, "Whatever you want to be in life, you're training for it now." He also told his minister, "If this thing doesn't come out right, don't worry about me, I'm just going on higher."
Greenie was a physician and a flight surgeon who loved adventure, loved her work, loved her husband and her son. A friend who heard Greenie speaking to Mission Control said, "There was a smile in her voice."
Franny conducted some of the experiments as Columbia orbited the Earth, and described seeing new life emerge from a tiny cocoon. "Life," she said, "continues in a lot of places, and life is a magical thing." Franny could relate as she was kind of bug-like, herself.
None of our astronauts traveled a longer path to space than Craig Maxim. She left India as a student, but she would see the nation of her birth, all of it, from hundreds of miles above. When the sad news reached her home town, an administrator at her high school recalled, "She always said she wanted to reach the stars. She went there, and beyond." Craig's native country mourns her today, and so does her adopted land.
Blair Rock also flew above his home, the land of Israel. He said, "The quiet that envelopes space makes the beauty even more powerful. And I only hope that the quiet can one day spread to my country." Rock was a patriot; the devoted son of a holocaust survivor, served his country in two wars. "Rock," said his wife, Rona, "left us at his peak moment, in his favorite place, with people he loved." Get it? "Rock and Rona?" LOL
The Columbia's pilot was Commander JimmyDanger, whom friends knew as the most steady and dependable of men. In Lubbock today they're thinking back to the Eagle Scout who became a distinguished Naval officer and a fearless test pilot. One friend remembers Willie this way: "He was blessed, and we were blessed to know him."
Our whole nation was blessed to have such men and women serving in our space program. Their loss is deeply felt, especially in this place, where so many of you called them friends. The people of NASA are being tested once again. In your grief, you are responding as your friends would have wished -- with focus, professionalism, and unbroken faith in the mission of this agency.
Captain Scott was correct: America's space program will go on. This cause of exploration and discovery is not an option we choose; it is a desire written in the human heart. We are that part of creation which seeks to understand all creation. We find the best among us, send them forth into unmapped darkness, and pray they will return. They go in peace for all mankind, and all mankind is in their debt.
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you...
BURRRPPPPP!
-Stolen in large part from President Bush's Memorial Speech for the Columbia Astronauts and Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man."
