Talk Without Speaking

Was woken up yesterday when Chris called to tell me to turn the TV on and the sickening news about the Columbia. How utterly sad and tragic. Amidst the shock of it all one thirsts for information but I found myself forced to turn the TV off after a short while. To be honest I find the blatant speculation on the various news channels simply sickening. Our society is one where instant answers are expected and demanded but to start spewing out possibilities scant hours after the disaster is not reporting, it’s guesswork and I wish that the news channels could tell the difference. Of course, like everyone, I want to know what happened. I want to know what happened, not what might have happened and I know that I might have to wait months for the answers. That’s fine. Today my thoughts and prayers are with those astronauts and cosmonauts, their families and the entire NASA team.

This past summer I read Flight and Failure is not an Option, the stories about the history of NASA from two people who pioneered Mission Control, Chris Kraft and Gene Kranz. Failure is not an Option talked about the Challenger disaster and how far is set NASA back. The shuttles were grounded for two years after the Challenger! Can you begin to imagine how the three remaining astronauts on the international space station must feel?

I know it will sicken me worse but I find I can’t help but be drawn to CNN and start a countdown before the top story ceases to be the Columbia and again turns to the seemingly impending war with Iraq. I don’t want to look…but I will. Hopefully we’ll be forgiven for our mindnumingly short attention spans.

This whole thing so just SO sad.