[leadpenny]

Heads up on the Left Coast.

[Jael]

This is the saddest thread ever. Historic. I hope someone saves it.

[Lancey Howard]

This thread sends shivers down my spine.
God bless the astronauts and their families.

[afuturegovernor]

What an unbelievable thread this has turned out to be.

[WomanofStandard]

leadpenny, thank you for starting this thread. I found it late but it touched me deeply.

I know my feeble attempts hardly qualify as poetry but I am going to post this anyway. I feel like I just have to give tribute in some way.

Columbia Prevailed

There are no words
nothing to say
That can describe my heart today
Yet I try, to release the grief
In words...insufficient
Words to speak.

My heart's pain is rich
It's deep
And still there are no words to speak
David Brown, Laurel Clark
I knew them not
Now, they're in my heart.

Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, weren't my friends
Meant nothing to me yesterday
Today, I mourn them.

William McCool, Michael Andersen
You went where few have ever been
Not only out in outer space
But,now in the hearts of men.

Ilan Ramon, our honored guest
You made your country proud
I join them in regarding you
As a hero in the clouds.

All 7 patriots to me
My heart mourns, yet still a joy abounds
That such as these had ever lived
And served us well
And made us proud.

You are what America is all about
And Israel too, Our Friend
I know had each of you known
You'd do it all again.
That's who you were, that was your heart
Your DEDICATION is what you taught
It's what you did impart.

May we be, each day we grow
More and more like you
And may God bless you all in heaven
As is His will to do.

Thank you from a Very Grateful Citizen

[tomkat]

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today.
The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth;
yet we can pray that all are safely home ...

quote of the day ?
(sadly)

[Indy Pendance]

Free Republic Scoops AP

The Web Gets a Scoop - scroll down a little

[Allan]

Bump

[ladyinred]

Congrats to you for posting the thread the scooped the AP!
FreeRepublic is the real breaking news!

[DoughtyOne]

Nice thread LP. By doing what comes naturally here on F.R. you scooped em by 11 minutes. Kudos to you and the contributors of this thread. From exitement and jubilation to concern, confusion, sorrow and mourning. On FR we cover all the emotions.

What helps is to have people you can talk about it with. People who are pretty bright chime in to smooth over the rough spots, when people voice their conjectures.

Thanks for starting the thread. Sorry it turned out the way it did.

[RobFromGa]

Wow, this thread is very touching. You have made a piece of FReeper history, friend.

[woofie]

You made the Wall Street Journal...Thank for a moving thread and a piece of history

The Web Gets a Scoop (Wall St. Journal Lauds Free Republic on Challenger Coverage) Wall St. Journal/Opinion Journal ^ | Sunday, February 2, 2003 1:29 p.m. EST | BY JAMES TARANTO

Posted on 02/02/2003 12:19 PM PST by Behind Liberal Lines

It's said that journalism is the first draft of history. If so, the Internet sometimes affords us a glimpse at history's rough outline. At 8:38 a.m. EST yesterday, a reader of the Free Republic Web site started a discussion thread for shuttle enthusiasts:

Space Shuttle Columbia is in a decent for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will pass over the San Francisco Area around 6:00 AM Pacific Time. Route will take the Shuttle over Las Vegas, Flagstaff, etc. NASA has still not decided which runway will be used. Landing will be at 9:16 AM Eastern.

Other Freepers joined in, describing the view of the descending shuttle from the West Coast--then gradually realizing something was amiss. Someone asks at 8:58 a.m. EST, "Was it glowing at all?" The first clear sign of trouble comes in a post at 9:05 a.m. We won't quote any more than this, because you really have to read the full thread to appreciate the drama. But it's worth noting that the first word of trouble didn't come across the Associated Press wire until 9:16, the scheduled landing time. Free Republic scooped the AP by at least 11 minutes--which is an eternity in the competitive world of wire-service reporting.

[McGruff]

It would be interesting if you could put down some more of your thoughts as this was happening.

I was watching TV on my computer. I saw this thread right after it started but didn't have anything to add. I was going to make a snide comment about the Left Coasters not being up at that time of the morning but I didn't. Glad I didn't now, I was wrong.

My first indication I had of something wrong was MSNBC's anchor saying Houston had lost contact. See reply 43. What was scary was someone was saying "We should have seen it by now". "It should be here by now". I guess they were at Kennedy Flight Center. It took me a few minutes to upload the screen capture and post it.

It doesn't seem too long after that when CNN started showing the first video, See reply 48. At that time I knew they were gone.

That's my thought's at that time.

[HighWheeler]

See the WSJ decription of this FR scoop

[JIM O]

Fantastic thread

[Chapita]

BTTT

[Hatteras]

Bump for historical context. Fascinating

[Springman]

BTTT
McGruff, could you please post
Lee Greenwood's audio "God Bless the USA" on this thread.
Thank You

[Kay Soze]

Bump for Archives.

Sorry for the Families left behind.

[marajade]

bump

[valleygal]

This thread was mentioned this morning on our local talk radio, KFYI 550 in Phoenix, AZ. Barry Young mentioned the fact that FreeRepublic had a thread going that(my words) was basically a play by play of the shuttle's homecoming, reentry and disaster.