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"I know that the friends and families of those who died in Apollo I, Challenger, and Columbia surely find little personal solace in that fact"

Actually, many DO take GREAT solace and comfort in the KNOWING that their family member or loved one has paved the way for ALL of us... things like MRI, missile defense and advanced disease treatments have all benefitted greatly from their willingness to lay down their lives for us.

Heros are heros because of what they purchase with their blood.
These folks launched a lot of very important weather and military satellites... and contributed to the saving of thousands of lives, if not millions.

I for one would hurt for the loss, but take GREAT comfort from the knowlege and influence of such people in my life...
and I do.

not really an argument and I DID get your point... but wanted to point out that family members OFTEN don't feel as bad as we do about their loss... it was a price they were more than WILLING to pay. And I think I understand why.

Heroes are heroes because of what they purchase with their blood .... family members often don't feel as bad as we do about their loss .... many do take great solace and comfort in knowing that their family member or loved one has paved the way for all of us.

Yes, but how common is such self-sacrificing heroism these days? And therein lies the unfathomable sadness that must lie in the hearts of those they leave behind. Such heroes are hard to find (heroism (or what passes for it) today is defined by much flimsier, self-aggrandizing stuff). So those of us who are fortunate enough to have personally known the kind of heroes about which you are speaking can’t help but mourn their passing doubly: once because of the personal loss, and again because there generally are very few who can step in and fill their empty shoes.

Yes, I know there are (and always will be) other astronauts waiting in the wings. But that particular type of courageous, duty-bound, adventurous person is vastly outnumbered (and their proportion is growing smaller by the day) by the type who place no value on such virtues. (And, mark my words, the latter type will be the most vocal in criticism of the mistakes which contributed to today’s tragedy, while really caring very little about the loss of noble human life).