A Sad 30 Year Anniversary

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Challenger Shuttle disaster - January 28, 1986.  Seven crew members lost their lives when the shuttle broke apart about a minute into its ascent.  Their names will forever stand as a testament to the price we will be asked to pay as we reach for the stars:

- Gregory Jarvis,
- Christa McAuliffe,
- Ronald McNair,
- Ellison Onizuka,
- Judith Resnik,
- Dick Scobee, and
- Michael J. Smith.

As Ronald Reagan stated on that tragic day,

There's a coincidence today. On this day three hundred and ninety years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today, we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.