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bobmoody |
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Sunday, July 24 2005 @ 10:26 pm EDT (Read 1544 times) |
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Sage
Status: online
Registered: 06/19/03 Posts: 461
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If all goes well this Tuesday morning at around 9:39 CDT, the space shuttle Discovery will liftoff from a launchpad in Florida towards a rendezvous with the International Space Station. As much a test flight as a re-supply mission, Discovery and her crew of seven will be riding the flame with the best of wishes from every American as well as millions of others from around the world. This shuttle mission will be the first since Columbia broke up on re-entry on that February 1st morning in 2003.
I did a little milling around on some NASA sites today, looking for anything interesting about this return-to-flight mission. Probably the most meaningful thing I found was a statement released by the families of the Columbia STS-107 crew. It felt more like a prayer as I read it and I wanted to share it with all our visitors to this site. Keep these words in mind as you watch the launch of mission STS-114 Discovery this next week, and then say your own prayers as she leaves the bounds of earthly gravity to rise up to the ISS that all goes well.
From a NASA site........
A Statement From the Columbia Families on NASA's Return to Flight
The following is a statement from the families of the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107:
"As NASA prepares to launch the Shuttle Discovery, we, the Columbia Families, would like to show our support for the STS-114 crew and all the dedication and talent of those who supported this Return to Flight effort. We have had two and one half years to reflect daily on the loss of our loved ones as the Shuttle Columbia (STS 107) broke apart over Texas on February 1, 2003.
"In the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy we saw our nation's space program reinvent itself. The extraordinary efforts of local, state and national organizations involved in the recovery effort, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the Return to Flight Task Group and all the NASA and aerospace industry workforce implementing the Return to Flight effort have clearly done an exemplary job in defining and reducing the technical risk as much as possible. As the families of Apollo 1 and Challenger before us, we grieve deeply but know the exploration of space must go on. We hope we have learned, and will continue to learn, from each of these accidents, so that we will be as safe as we can be in this high risk endeavor.
"As important as solving the technical risk is, we must be vigilant to ensure the organizational and cultural issues that contributed to Apollo, Challenger, and Columbia are forever remembered. Under the leadership of the new NASA Administrator, we have every confidence that the sacrifice of our loved ones and those that preceded them will be realized for the benefit of all humankind.
"Godspeed Discovery."
Bob Moody
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Anonymous: TexasJagsFan |
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Monday, July 25 2005 @ 03:25 pm EDT |
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Thank you for sharing this.
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