remembering the fallen astronauts
Columbia and Apollo.
A year ago, the space shuttle Columbia vaporized upon reentry over the Texas plains. The destruction of the Columbia took with it Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. One week and eighteen years ago, the Challenger exploded shortly after launch - transforming what was meant to be a goodwill mission highlighted by schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe's presence onboard into a national tragedy. One week and thirty seven years ago, astronauts Edward White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee died in a fire inside the capsule of the Apollo I spacecraft. Seventeen men and women who sacrificed for the noble goal of exploration, to satisfy the human desire for knowledge, and to undertake an adventure available to few.
Space is still the untamed frontier. Like the sea a millenium ago, and the air a century ago, space is the domain of a select few highly trained and carefully selected - except of course for those who get there via a twenty million dollar ticket. Regrettably, after a few Apollo missions the "space race" was effectively over and with it the American public's interest. The early years of the space shuttle program were a novelty, but a temporary one - hence the need for NASA's "schoolteacher in space" concept.
Unfortunately, NASA's manned space missions seem to be at a dead end. While it appears likely a new series of lunar missions are forthcoming and there are tentative plans for a Mars mission, public reaction has been tepid. With private sector suborbital flights approaching, NASA should focus on exotic and experimental new technologies for unmanned flight - including, but not limited to nuclear propulsion, ion engines, and solar sailers. Such non-chemical propulsion systems would allow for the development of the next generation of robotic exploration akin to the current Spirit and Opportunity Martian rovers.
There will come a time when space travel is as common as air and land travel, perhaps later than expected by those working on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs in the 1960s, but it is nevertheless inevitable. Those who gave their lives in our time to make that future possible should not be forgotten. As Reagan said in remembering the crew of Challenger, "they slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."
01.02.2004 © ljr