oracle
02-02-2003, 03:53 AM
The Right Stuff (http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/67885.htm)
Editorial
New York Post
February 2, 2003 -- After 9/11, one might have thought that Americans had lost the capacity to be shocked by sudden disaster.
But even though it had happened once before, most Americans - already on edge over the imminent war with Iraq - awoke yesterday to the stunning news that the space shuttle Columbia had exploded in the final minutes before its landing, killing all seven on board.
Indeed, the loss of Columbia occurred 17 years almost to the day after America's worst space disaster, the explosion of the shuttle Challenger.
Columbia's crew perished as the craft approached what should have been a triumphant return from space after a hugely successful mission.
Now America mourns.
But not just America: The crew of Columbia included Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who carried with him his nation's aspirations. Not until after the launch was it revealed that this son of Holocaust survivors had been among the Israeli Air Force pilots who, in 1981, staged the attack that destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak.
India, too, has special reason to weep: Mission-specialist Kalpana Chawla, an aerospace engineer who supervised a dozen scientific experiments, was a native of that country who emigrated to America in the '80s.
Once upon a time, astronauts were household names and Americans of all ages hung on every detail of their flights.
They had the Right Stuff.
...
CLick here to read more (http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/67885.htm)
Editorial
New York Post
February 2, 2003 -- After 9/11, one might have thought that Americans had lost the capacity to be shocked by sudden disaster.
But even though it had happened once before, most Americans - already on edge over the imminent war with Iraq - awoke yesterday to the stunning news that the space shuttle Columbia had exploded in the final minutes before its landing, killing all seven on board.
Indeed, the loss of Columbia occurred 17 years almost to the day after America's worst space disaster, the explosion of the shuttle Challenger.
Columbia's crew perished as the craft approached what should have been a triumphant return from space after a hugely successful mission.
Now America mourns.
But not just America: The crew of Columbia included Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who carried with him his nation's aspirations. Not until after the launch was it revealed that this son of Holocaust survivors had been among the Israeli Air Force pilots who, in 1981, staged the attack that destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak.
India, too, has special reason to weep: Mission-specialist Kalpana Chawla, an aerospace engineer who supervised a dozen scientific experiments, was a native of that country who emigrated to America in the '80s.
Once upon a time, astronauts were household names and Americans of all ages hung on every detail of their flights.
They had the Right Stuff.
...
CLick here to read more (http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/67885.htm)