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From: jkw@lanl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Challenger/depression/catharsis...
Message-ID: <361@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 28-Jan-86 14:41:40 EST
Article-I.D.: lanl.361
Posted: Tue Jan 28 14:41:40 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 02:41:16 EST
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 25

A few minutes ago, I wandered into a packed meeting room down the hall from my
office where a bunch of people were watching the Challenger lift-off on a
big screen TV.  When it EXPLODED, I felt like I had been kicked in the guts.
The silence in the room was deafening.   A few minutes later, someone told
me that some of the people in the meeting room were a shuttle crew here for
a briefing about an instrument to be taken up on a launch (formerly)
scheduled for later this spring.  How do you suppose they felt?  They
immediately scrambled for Houston.

I can't imagine the emotions experienced by the families of the astronauts,
not to mention those of the kids at the Cape watching their schoolteacher
being vaporized.  I feel a lot like I did when JFK was shot.

I think that Joe Tourist joyrides have just slipped a little farther into the
future.  I fervently hope that the anti-space types in Washington won't be
able to completely kill the shuttle program and that a few years from now we
will look back on this as we now do on the Apollo fire -- as an unfortunate
misstep in the dangerous activity of pioneering and one which, hopefully,
will add knowledge about safely launching future manned (peopled) missions.


       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       ~ Dust in the wind...All we are is dust in the wind......... ~
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	  Jay Wooten  Los Alamos National Lab  ARPA:jkw@lanl.ARPA