One Year Ago,...


NASA

...February 1, 2003. I recall hearing on the car radio the first report that the Shuttle Columbia had lost communication and was 'overdue' for its planned landing. I immediately felt a pit in my stomach. Since the Shuttle is a gliding vehicle, I knew that 'overdue' meant that it would not land, that this would be another grim day like when the Challenger went down seventeen years earlier. Getting home an hour later, the continuous replay of that terrible fireball in the Texas morning sky was underway.

A year has passed, with much soul searching within NASA and the whole space community. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) concluded in August that lapses in a flawed 'NASA culture' played a primary role in allowing the accident to happen.

At the same time, the CAIB held the nation responsible for not providing NASA with a clear vision toward which to direct its efforts. By then, space vision and policy were quietly being developed by the White House and Congress, which led to President Bush's announcement on January 14 of a new vision for exploration of the Moon and beyond.

Let's honor the memory of the Columbia Seven by seeing that this vision is carried out and is implemented in a way that truly opens space as a frontier for humanity

President Bush said some memorable words when he addressed the nation that afternoon:

"In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

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."

At the memorial service in Houston three days later, he described the calling to carry on the work of exploring space:

"This cause of exploration and discovery is not an option we choose; it is a desire written in the human heart."