MARK STEYN: Americans are tougher about these things now

The Sunday Telegraph ^ | February 2, 2003 | Mark Steyn

[EternalVigilance]

Reaching Higher Ground

Descending, only to rise!
Leaving pull
Of God's green Earth
In a blaze of fire!

Worldly friction didn't win
Every trouble fades
On that heavenly high

Pushing out further
Than man has ever been
On the frontier
Of the deep dark night

Pushing the limits
Of this mortal life
We will never know
Unless we strive

The brave live forever
Seared into our hearts
Not knowing they were heroes
Just doing their part

But they'll not be forgotten
In the troubled times ahead
By courageous example
They have forever led

Elijah's chariot
Came to carry them away
To their eternal home
In God's eternal sky

EV

Dedicated to the crew of Columbia - 2/1/03

[nicmarlo]

President Bush, whom commentators have increasingly compared to Reagan in recent months, is not so comfortable with grandiose poetic rhetoric; he is a more openly emotional man, and it will be the smaller human elements in the story that touch him - men and women in their early 40s, leaving behind young children. They were an American crew - four men, one black; two women, one born in India.

R.I.P.

[Eala]

Within an hour of the Shuttle's loss, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interviewer was gleefully asking her alleged expert whether the failure was due to American "arrogance", the same "arrogance" the Americans are currently demonstrating in the Middle East.

A pox upon Canada and the CBC.

[Travis McGee]

Yes he does. And so do our stalwart British allies.

[rs79bm]

There still is a communication blackout upon re-entry and actually other parts of orbit. Mainly, when the shuttle approaches extreme temperatures (in excess of 3,000 degrees Fh) there is a blackout and also a small blackout on the initial launch. I'm sure if you talked to a NASA official, he could give many more periods when there are blackouts.

[metesky]

Thanks, Pokey.

[chiller]

Correct...still some periods of blackouts, which is why
NASA didn't freak immediately upon losing contact.

[CFC__VRWC]

Within an hour of the Shuttle's loss, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interviewer was gleefully asking her alleged expert whether the failure was due to American "arrogance", the same "arrogance" the Americans are currently demonstrating in the Middle East.

Doubtless this same sentiment was heard on media outlets all over Europe. And then these people actually wonder why we Americans hold them in such contempt.

[chiller]

This Canadian reporterette sounds a bit envious of US supremacy? Jealous, perhaps? Stupid bitch.

[prairiebreeze]

* It is also a setback for Washington, which had plotted this week as a projection of American resolve:*

There's truth in this. Been thinking about this very thing in the back of my mind today. "What will it do to the process? What will it mean to the military, the Allies, etc. etc.?"

Bush declared a week of flags being lowered. This is bound to knock the wind out of the sails for a bit I think

[the_doc]

Within an hour of the Shuttle's loss, a Canadian Broadcasting Corportation interviewer was gleefully asking her alleged expert whether the failure was due to American "arrogance", the same "arrogance" the Americans are currently demonstrating in the Middle East. The "expert" - a sci-fi writer - said no, it wasn't "arrogance". But an hour later the CBC was apparently citing mysterious "space experts" who thought "over-confidence" arising from Iraqi war fever had led Nasa to go ahead with the flight.

I think Ann Coulter would say we should not use ALL of our extra bombs on France.

[chiller]

Don't agree. Onward and upward, gang...just as Mr. Steyn so properly explained.

Space travel isn't covered by Triple AAA auto.

[PhilDragoo]

I watched the Columbia land April 1981. We were building a house for the retired head of Sandia Labs and he called us in for "a historic moment".

These risked all for the benefit of all.

They showed the best of the American spirit: to have the sophistication and daring to seek knowledge on the dangerous path.

Steyn notes the predictable schadenfreude of America haters.

God receive those who today gave all for the benefit of all mankind.

Godspeed those who now go to safeguard our God-given freedoms.

. . .tougher about these things now. . .

[chiller]

Now there's a good thought. What's this Canadian bimbo's name,btw? I want to know. I want everyone to know.

[CFC__VRWC]

Bush declared a week of flags being lowered. This is bound to knock the wind out of the sails for a bit I think

I'm going to get the extra-large barf bags ready. We're going to need them this next week while we watch the Rats shamelessly spin this for political gain.

[goldstategop]

Mark Steyn makes the point technology can fail us at times. But he also reminds us the greatness of America as a country is its willingness to go where no one else dares. In our exploration of the heavens we will after we mourn our dearly departed dead to continue bringing back what they wanted to share with us - the excitement of new discoveries on the final frontier. As Ronald Reagan so justly said once America's best days are still to come and that is even more true now than ever.

[OldFriend]

On the contrary, America is in no mood for any more stalling and bullship from the UN.

[wretchard]

After Hitler had lost hope in his army, he turned for comfort to sendings from his familiar demons, and the signs, portents and auguries of astrology. He saw in Roosevelt's death the impending breakup of the alliance. These delusions, combined with drugs, kept him going until the last hours in the bunker.

I for one, am glad that the Islamists must, like Richard Reid, hope in the a last judgement by Allah to save them. They know in their hearts that their suicide warriors, their Osama Bin Ladens and their mighty armies have been snapped like a rotten twig. Yet they blaspheme to think that any just God, called Allah or not, will intervene to continue their program of murder. Perhaps they are right in this: God is rendering the Last Judgement and they are in the dock.

[The Electrician]

One of the network commentators alluded to TDRSS, the "Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System", as the key to maintaining communication through the descent through the upper atmosphere. See http://nmsp.gsfc.nasa.gov/tdrss/