"Tribute to the Columbia Astronauts"

edX

mac shaman
The following was sent out as an email yesterday by the Earth Religions Alliance as a memorial for the astronauts who died in the shuttle tragedy.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew -
And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
-John Gillespie Magee Jr.

if you would like to add your own feelings of empathy and pain over this tragic event, feel free. but posts that venture into the arena of political discussion will be promptly deleted. this event, at least as we understand it now, was not political. it was a human tragedy. if you want to discuss politics, start your own thread.
 
I love science, I love humanity, I love human beings. These astronauts represent for me an ideal of human beings giving their live for science and for the progress of humanity.

Someone said "death is part of life". These 7 deaths demonstrate that some people live for all of us.

Science will continue, and grow. We thank all the people that gave and will continue to give their life for us.
 
Well done Ed. I used that poem too.

It took a while for the signifigance of this disaster to set in for me. While it is certainly sad that seven lives were lost, it is infinitely more sad that this will disrupt the overall progress of humanity for perhaps years to come.

I agree with Chevy, we need to move on from this, take our lessons, and reconcile with the risks that must be undertaken in the name of progress. :(
 
Thanks Ed.

I was hoping to see something here on the subject of the shuttle.

-Eric

disclaimer: I work for NASA but I am not writing this in any sort of official capacity, just as a private citizen.
 
i went to apples' web page just now and saw they have changed the images on the screens, the shuttles have been removed... that did not suprise me but the fact that apple had a theme of nasa shuttles in the week prior to this tragety which is just plain... strange.

makes me fear steve jobs has the posession of a palantir.
 
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:) Pretty much sums up my feelings on it.
 
Thanks edX. A fitting memorial in this place.

The Columbia tragedy has touched people all over the world commited to following their dreams, who share in your grief.
 
It means that though some of the people in which the ideals of space exploration and human advancement are embodied may be gone, the ideas they represented cannot be subjected to destruction and death.

So, yes, this does mean that we will continue to explore space, but it also means that any properly ambitious goal cannot be destroyed through failure.
 
Originally posted by Matrix Agent
It means that though some of the people in which the ideals of space exploration and human advancement are embodied may be gone, the ideas they represented cannot be subjected to destruction and death.

So, yes, this does mean that we will continue to explore space, but it also means that any properly ambitious goal cannot be destroyed through failure.

Thanks Phil.
Viva la NASA!!
 
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