Posted on 01/27/2006 9:29:40 AM PST by John W
I remember walking to Chemistry Class and hearing something about it. Then when I did get to class, we did watch it on TV. I was a Junior then. It is something I will not forget. I believe MSM was not part of our life then, but CNN was and they are basically the same thing...crap.
And then some years later the jokes started. What does NASA stand for? Won't answer it but it is not funny. I heard quite a few of them. Terrible. I don't know why people do that. Maybe to take the pain away. I don't know.
I remember I was working at IBM at the time, with a lot of Engineers who had previously been involved with the Space program. It hit everyone real hard...
IBM had an internal forum like FR in those days, and there was thousands of poignant tributes posted by many with close ties to the programs. Not much got done for a couple of days while everyone discussed the tragedy...
That was Senator Jake Garn:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/garn-j.html
Many people can't recall if it was live or not when they saw it.
But, it does matter in that:
1. Some posters feel that the author's point was wrong. I don't think so.
2. By 1986, many people no longer considered shuttle launches to be worth running to the TV for. I didn't. I think it might reflect a larger complacency about the shuttle and our space program. I think this was the author's larger point; that Americans had become to accept the shuttle as "routine" and we failed to grasp the danger that is inherent in such things.
I did see the Columbia disaster "live". I woke up early (Saturday morning?) and happened to turn on the TV. I was just looking for news, not specifically the shuttle.
They do it because they are shmucks and do not have human hearts. Period.
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