14 Comments

I remember being on Interstate 85 traveling home. One of many events that occurred on January 16th that I will always remember. They did know the dangers and they are not forgotten for going where few have gone before. RIP

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This event is a vivid memory for me. I know where I was and how I felt when it happened. Everyone was in stunned disbelief. Those brave astronauts were gone and would never return to their families. As President George W. Bush said they knew the dangers and faced them willingly. It’s evidence of that great American spirit. Striving to explore and learn more. It’s hard to understand why NASA wasn’t more concerned. Perhaps they, like our nation, had grown so used to success in space they ignored the potential for disaster and it cost seven lives. It’s a testament to our determination as a nation that we continue to this day to explore the universe around us.

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Tragedy strikes hard that day 21 years ago causing seven brave crew members to lose their lives that day!

But their successors kept on to help, step by step, grow our Space Program and our nation!

May the Columbia crew members Rest In Peace!

Thank you, Tara, for this story!

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A tragedy indeed 😢 💔 I think everyone remembers what they were doing and where they were at that moment. RIP CREW 🙏🏼 🪦

Thank you Tara 😊 💓

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I remember it very well. I watched a movie afterwards called "Space Camp". It was about children with learning disabilities getting to "space camp". They showed the launch of a Space Shuttle and when it didn't explode I was surprised.

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Wow. One of the husbands was Rick Husband. In a macabre tradition, the airport in his home town of Amarillo was renamed in his honor.

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Thank you, Tara.

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🇺🇸 Though we forget, moments like this remind us that doing the hard things come with danger. 🇺🇲

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Going back to the review of the launch, what could have been done to repair the wing had they decided that it was not safe? Could there have been an alteration of the re-entry to make it safer. Tough decision for those folks with that responsibility.

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I so well remember when I first heard of the tragedy. We had gone to D.C. for a visit and were in the National Cathedral. We got a call from our daughter telling us of the terrible news. Later that day we were at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and there was a display of the Columbia there. Made for a very sad visit to the museum, but drove home the tragedy for us.

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😢

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A very Sad Time in our History.

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I was living east of Dallas, just finished an all night 12 hour shift at SW university hospitals. I got out of my car..heard a bang, looked up and saw something falling from way up there. It was later that day I realized what I had seen. Courageous lives lost.

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Living just South of Dallas at that time, the boom rattled the house. It was hard to believe. We had been living in Florida in 87 when the Challenger’s fuel tank blew it to pieces. My wife had been watching the contrail of the launch and said that she knew something terribly bad had happened. How we hated both instances! It was a risk the astronauts took and lost. I still envy them. They remain heroes to my family.

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