This is more or less in response to Brian's latest post... a slightly more personal take on how and why Columbia affected me.
The reason the Columbia disaster affected me so much is because NASA is now, and probably always will be, a signifiant part of my life. NASA is my current job... will probably be Chad's job... and my well be my future job. So anything that potentially hurts NASA, also hurts me, and my family, and affects me as a person. Eveyone I know in Huntsville works in some way with NASA... and for this reason, also affects me.
The Shuttle is a legend... almost sacred. People talk about all our successes, and all of the experiments done in space... and very seldom do we bring up the times that things went wrong... Challenger, and before the Shuttle system, Apollo I. Astronauts are national heros... kids look up to them... Wow, you fly the Shuttle? It's an awesome thing to see... and it's and awesome thing to see launch. And a terrifying sight when somehting goes wrong...
Seven people unexpectedly dying doing something that people you love aspire to do is enough to shake you up a bit... given ten more years and a little bit different set of circumstances, and I could have been waiting out on that runway for Chad to land. I cannot imagine what those families are going through right now...
I'll admit, the feeling while watching the news broadcasts was not the same as 9-11. It wasn't a feeling of terror, where will be struck next, who are these monstors... yada yada... it was a feeling of horror... How could this be happening? what went wrong? Challenger again? A feeling that made you call out Dear God... but left you with no words to follow it. Columbia, unlike 9-11, will not cause classes to be cancelled, or tests to be postponed... but, like 9-11 and Challenger, and the Kennedy assasination... it will be seared into the hearts of everyone who heard about it. We will all know where we were, and what we were thinking when it happened... and hope nothing like it ever happens again.
This is my brain..... in part, at least.
