This past week represents the 25th anniversary of the Challenger explosion, a disaster that struck at the core of the American spirit. It was Apollo 1 all over again, yet in some ways worse due to the loss of more life and because every school child was glued to the television screen to see the first teacher in space. However, as with the Apollo program, the nation regrouped, learned from the problem, and carried on, which was the best thing to do.
Of course, only two-thirds of the Space Shuttle fleet remain, after the loss of the Columbia in 2003. And we are in the last year of these shuttle missions until we turn to the Russians to get us back into space. A truly ironic, if not sad, situation where we are dependent on our Cold War foe who we beat to the moon.
This past Thursday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to mark NASA's National Day of Remembrance (for a tribute page, go here). President Obama also had some comments on this day, including:
Throughout history, however, we have seen that achieving great things sometimes comes at great cost and we mourn the brave astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice in support of NASA missions throughout the agency’s storied history. We pause to reflect on the tragic loss of the Apollo 1 crew, those who boarded the space shuttle Challenger in search of a brighter future, and the brave souls who perished on the space shuttle Columbia.
As with any exploration, lives will be lost moving mankind to new limits and opportunities. As long as we can learn from each failure, we have a better chance to get to that next goal. Regardless of my concerns about the recent leadership of the space program, as one looks across the globe it is clear that mankind wants to continue to move outwards and upwards. I only hope the United States can play a big part in this continuing effort.