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The Columbia Tragedy |
| Section: CURRENT ISSUES / WORLD VIEWS |
| Author: |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 4/1/2003 |
| Size: 3,217 Words, 19,905 Characters |
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The voyage continues
UNITED STATES--Floral bouquets and mementos are continuing to be placed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the National Air and Space Museum in Washington as mourning for the seven astronauts who died in the Columbia disaster continues. It's appropriate that time be taken to mourn, and also to thoroughly examine what went wrong. Those flaws must be found and corrected. However, that mourning and those investigations must not keep NASA from fulfilling its primary mission of space exploration. In his [Feb. 1] address announcing the loss of the Columbia and its crew, President Bush said, "The cause in which they died will continue. ... Our journey into space will go on." ...
One year from now, after the flowers of Columbia's memorials have withered but before hope has faded, it would be appropriate for President Bush, in his 2004 State of the Union, to offer his administration's vision for the future of manned space flight and his plan for fulfilling it. One year to debate, to decide and then to dictate how the nation's manned voyage into space will continue. There could be no finer tribute to the crew of Columbia.
--Washington Times
February 4, 2003
Honor lost astronauts
UNITED STATES--At the poignant memorial service for Columbia's lost crew, President Bush declared that America's space exploration will go on--not so much through free will but because exploration of the unknown is "a desire written in the human heart." His pledge was appropriate for a nation driven to explore the vast frontier of space. But fulfilling the desire Bush described requires clear vision. And that was lacking in America's space program long before Columbia shattered into pieces on its journey home. Since Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon in 1969, the space program has lost its way, a victim of declining public interest, shrinking funds and the lack of a singular objective.
Compare that meandering path to NASA's sure-footed pursuit o...
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...50 or so shuttle flights?
But on Dec.17, the Americans and the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' inauguration of the age of powered flight. It seems like an appropriate time to expand mankind's goals in space, and to share the responsibilities and costs more equitably. That might justify the sacrifice of the astronauts of Columbia.
--Edmonton Sun
February 5, 2003
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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