My prayers and tears go out to the families and loved ones of the seven crew members of the space shuttle Columbia.
We heard about the loss of the shuttle in the car on our way to lunch, about three hours after it happened. We listened to the news on our local talk radio station for the entire ride to the restaurant. I was teary-eyed as we entered the restaurant, and the girl that seated us probably wondered why. It didn't seem like anyone inside the restaurant knew; the TVs were all tuned to a basketball game, which annoyed me. I had hoped we would be able to watch the news as we ate.
(At this point I have to make an observation. During the recounts after the last presidential election, our favorite television shows were constantly interrupted by news flashes, only to say there was still no news. Yet they couldn't possibly interrupt a basketball game to report news of the destruction of the space shuttle and loss of seven lives?)
After having lunch and completing our weekly grocery shopping, we returned home and watched about four hours of continuous news coverage. I couldn't pull myself away, and I found myself in tears on many occasions. Finally, we had to turn off the TV and get ready to attend a party, to celebrate the Chinese New Year and a friend's recent engagement.
I have heard some people say that "they don't need to be sending people to space." Some have said it's a waste of time and money, that "they were only studying spiders," (only one of approximately 80 scientific experiments conducted on the shuttle). Some have even gone so far as to seemingly mock the space program and the people involved in it, including those lost aboard the Columbia. To these people, I say this: How dare you disrespect these brilliant, courageous people not a day after their catastrophic deaths? Science is important, even if you don't understand it. I am disgusted and ashamed to know people who do not feel the sadness and the horror of this tragedy.
(Other journal entries on this topic: always write, Big Pink Cookie, the passionate ailurophile)
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