That is the stuff courage is made of, knowing you will be in peril and proceeding, embracing that danger and going forward. They all have my respect, and undying gratitude for raising the bar to new heights.
I’m right there beside you. I grew up with the space program and vividly remember every one of these events. These were men (and women),with feet of clay, to be sure. But they were heroes to me, especially Grissom, Chaffee, and White. And I actually got the chance to talk at length with Jack Swigart, the Command Pilot for Apollo 13.
It’s a shame what has happened to our space program. Undoubtably there’s political corruption and waste that contributed to the massive shuttle budget. That being said, I wish most of the money we spend on entitlement programs went instead to the space program. We should be on Mars by now.
I’m a 20-year pilot in the US Army. Years ago I went through the process of applying to be an astronaut. It’s tough for us to get in as we’re not fast-mover aviators like Navy and AF. I knew I had about a 1% chance of being accepted. My wife an I would joke that “we” were the perfect candidate if we could combine ourselves. She’s the Johns Hopkins engineer with perfect grades but scared of heights, I was the military test pilot with combat experience.
I’ll never forget watching the Challenger disaster live as it happened. I was 15 watching in a school assembly. Brutal. Also remember Reagan’s incredible speech:
“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”
Still brings tears to my eyes 30 years later.
At least they never knew what hit them.
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Unfortunate as it was, at the very least, the crew was doing something they loved. God bless them.
Indeed.