When I was younger, I built a model of a NASA orbiter. Like many kids, I dreamt of being an astronaut. I visited the Boston Musem of Science and crawled around inside model space vehicles. Like many Americans, I've seen the video clips of the moon landing, feeling pride that our country, the United States of America, was the first to have a man walk on the moon.
As I've watched and listened to all of the coverage today, one thing has kept coming back to me. No matter what happened, both the astronauts and their families knew what the risks were. They knew there was a chance they might not make it back from their adventures, yet they went anyway. They died in the pursuit of knowledge and the advancement of science. Who's to know if the results gained from their experiments might have cured a disease, or lead to further gains that might have made the world a better place?
Today's events are heart-breaking, but such events are bound to occur as we explore things that we are unfamiliar with. The only thing we can do is vow not to forget the sacrifices made by others as the science of tomorrow will be built upon the shoulders of the scientists of today.
Update: From LGF, by Cox and Forkum
