Is it any wonder why they do it?
Posted on 02/03/2003 7:04:39 AM PST by Hatteras
While watching the coverage this weekend, I caught Brian Williams talking with Buzz Aldrin who attempted to read a "poem" before he broke down in tears. I was curious to find out what it was that moved him so and, for what it's worth, this is what I have found:
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin received an e-mail Saturday after the shuttle Columbia tragedy. While reading its contents (what we reported to be a poem commemorating the astronauts) on NBC television, Aldrin began to cry and could not go on...
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Song Commemorating Spaceflight Brought Buzz Aldrin to Tears
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin received an e-mail Saturday after the shuttle Columbia tragedy. While reading its contents (what we reported to be a poem commemorating the astronauts) on NBC television, Aldrin began to cry and could not go on.
The poem is actually a song called "Fire in the Sky," by Jordin Kare. The song begins:
Prometheus, they say, brought God's fire down to man.
And we've caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began.
Now we're going back to heaven just to look him in the eye,
and there's a thunder 'cross the land, and a fire in the sky.
The song will be on a CD of music celebrating the history and future of space exploration, says publisher Eli Goldberg of Prometheus Music. The CD is slated for release this summer in partnership with the National Space Society and Mars Society.
The song is available in MP3 format here, along with the full lyrics.
Full Lyrics:
Prometheus, they say, brought God's fire down to man.
And we've caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began.
Now we're going back to heaven just to look him in the eye,
and there's a thunder 'cross the land, and a fire in the sky.
Gagarin was the first, back in nineteen sixty-one,
When like Icarus, undaunted, he climbed to reach the sun.
And he knew he might not make it, for it's never hard to die.
But he lifted off the pad and rode a fire in the sky.
Yet a higher goal was calling, and we vowed we'd reach it soon.
And we gave ourselves a decade to put fire on the moon.
And Apollo told the world, we can do it if we try:
And there was one small step, and a fire in the sky.
Bridge:
I dreamed last night of a little boy's first spaceflight,
Turned into me, watching a black and white TV.
There was a fire in the sky, I'll remember until I die.
A fire in the sky...a fire in the sky!
Then two decades from Gagarin, twenty years to the day.
Came a shuttle named Columbia, to open up the way.
And they said she's just a truck, but she's a truck that's aiming high.
See her big jets burning, see her fire in the sky.
Yet the Gods do not give lightly of the powers they have made.
And with Challenger and seven, once again the price is paid.
Though a nation watched her falling, yet a world could only cry.
As they passed from us to glory, riding fire in the sky.
Now, the rest is up to us, and there's a future to be won.
We must turn our faces outward, we will do what must be done.
For no cradle lasts forever, every bird must learn to fly ---
And we're going to the stars, see our fire in the sky.
Yes, we're going to the stars, see our fire in the sky!
There's a fire in the sky, I'll remember until I die.
A fire in the sky, a fire in the sky!
Is it any wonder why they do it?
I am truly amazed by the vitriol you have shown towards NASA and the astronauts.
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