Columbia

[muscadine]

I was half awake, and I heard the TV come on in the other room, and Allen was about to say something, and I snapped up and said, "SHHH!" as I heard "...NASA has lost contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia..." We turned on the news and watched for about 30 minutes. Watched the fireball streaming down the sky. I could not help but have this strange thought, that it was so beautiful. Like a shooting star. Yet such a tragedy.

It was like the Challenger all over again; we were just in shock. So unexpected... Strange how again this was a historic flight. All of them are, in a way, I suppose, but I mean in the sense of getting more media attention than ususal. I imagine there are LJers out there who weren't even around for that, which is strange to think about...

Comments

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Read joannasatana's entry about it.

[countrymouse.livejournal.com]

Okay, giving away my (great) age; but not only do I remember well the space shuttle Challenger accident (my mother phoned me about that, told me to turn on the TV), but was oddly comforted this afternoon when CNN had Walter Cronkite on the phone with them for a while. He was our anchor (literally) through the beginnings of the space program, through the Apollo 13 ordeal, etc. He and Wally Schirra (who calmed Walter down when Walter would be overly worried about something). Walter asked all the questions for us that we, the common people, would've wanted to ask. The splashdowns were always nerve-racking. But somehow space travel has gotten to feel almost "routine". We forget the dangers; but I expect the astronauts never take anything for granted and understand the dangers of the work they do. ::thinking comforting thoughts to their families::

I stopped watching this afternoon when NASA began their long news conference--I will check back later. Remember when the shuttles first went up and everyone was saying all the tiles would peel off, a "zipper effect"? People were revisiting that theory again today. I haven't heard the latest. I do know they said something about various sensors in the left wing area were going out before mission control lost contact with Columbia...

Okay, now I will stop my blathering...

[the-marionette.livejournal.com]

I watched the Challenger explode live on TV. This is eerily similar. Even the date is close. The Challenger exploded on January 28th.

Re:

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. And, yeah, I was aware of the closeness in dates. The Apollo accident was on January 27th, also. Eerie.