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Letter from Columbia
2003-Feb-03, Monday 08:58 amFollows is the final email from Laurel Clark.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/868012.asp
During this time of unexpected loss, I can only hope that the media and the population at large will retain perspective, and remain responsible in their actions and reactions.
During the history of our explorations, things have gone horribly, accidentally awry. And the space program is only the most recent, most graphic example of this. The more we try and learn about our environment, the more we try and (wisely IMO) comprehend what life is and what rules apply outside the direct sphere of our tainted knowledge, the more we'll need increasingly complex systems to handle that tracking. In every field, accidents happen. In every field, death occurs. It's as natural as life - big surprise there.
Let's not get overly hasty in thoughts of grounding the fleet because of this. Let's not get overly hasty in calling an end to manned missions. Every person, every day, takes every reasonable precaution against injury to themselves. Yet, these continue to happen. The men and women who man the rockets (with how many tons of high combustible, super-charged rocket fuel strapped to their ass?) and shuttles that have ventured outside our lives and knowledge to explore that great unknown know the risks they take every time. They know that discovery is never without cost. And, they wouldn't have put themselves into that position if the cost weren't worth paying in order to potentially benefit us all.
And, by the same token, let's also not overlook the more domestic, earth-bound problems we're still facing every day. 9 people lost their lives, in a fiery burst in our atmosphere. And, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaffa_tamarin put it, here, there are many other things we should be focussing on. Neither should be ignored, neither should take precedence over the other, as they're on somewhat opposite sides of the equation.
America has been trained over the last 100+ years to be fueled primarily by hysteria, courtesy of our media, constantly striving to distract us from reasonable thought with screaming headlines, flash and minimal substance. Jerk yourselves awake, and move on. They're heroes, absolutely. They died in an effort to bring knowledge and light to the muddy dimness that is our understanding. Now how are you going to honor and improve on that sacrifice?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/868012.asp
During this time of unexpected loss, I can only hope that the media and the population at large will retain perspective, and remain responsible in their actions and reactions.
During the history of our explorations, things have gone horribly, accidentally awry. And the space program is only the most recent, most graphic example of this. The more we try and learn about our environment, the more we try and (wisely IMO) comprehend what life is and what rules apply outside the direct sphere of our tainted knowledge, the more we'll need increasingly complex systems to handle that tracking. In every field, accidents happen. In every field, death occurs. It's as natural as life - big surprise there.
Let's not get overly hasty in thoughts of grounding the fleet because of this. Let's not get overly hasty in calling an end to manned missions. Every person, every day, takes every reasonable precaution against injury to themselves. Yet, these continue to happen. The men and women who man the rockets (with how many tons of high combustible, super-charged rocket fuel strapped to their ass?) and shuttles that have ventured outside our lives and knowledge to explore that great unknown know the risks they take every time. They know that discovery is never without cost. And, they wouldn't have put themselves into that position if the cost weren't worth paying in order to potentially benefit us all.
And, by the same token, let's also not overlook the more domestic, earth-bound problems we're still facing every day. 9 people lost their lives, in a fiery burst in our atmosphere. And, as
jaffa_tamarin put it, here, there are many other things we should be focussing on. Neither should be ignored, neither should take precedence over the other, as they're on somewhat opposite sides of the equation.America has been trained over the last 100+ years to be fueled primarily by hysteria, courtesy of our media, constantly striving to distract us from reasonable thought with screaming headlines, flash and minimal substance. Jerk yourselves awake, and move on. They're heroes, absolutely. They died in an effort to bring knowledge and light to the muddy dimness that is our understanding. Now how are you going to honor and improve on that sacrifice?