01 II 2003 - 18:34 - forsan memini hominum fortium

It's the Year of the Ram.

Much has been written -- one might have a look at Mechaieh's entry, which also offers a few links of its own.

I'm not sure how to react. If anything, there's still a good deal of shock for me, and a vague sense that itches to spring into compassion that (to say the least) this must be terrible for the families of the astronauts.

The news came for me as I was (at 8:45 PST) on my way to the place where I do volunteer work, and when I got there, the morning regulars were discussing it. At what time did the space program fade into such relative obscurity? we all wondered -- that men should bridge unimaginable gaps in tubes of metal that come in and out of the atmosphere is incredible, if one gives any thought to it. This is what men can do, this is one of the ways in which we seek new knowledge -- it's breathtaking, really. And yet, there's very little mention of the program these days -- my hometown newspaper devotes articles to launches only when weather forces a delay...

Challenger exploded in 1986, nine months before I was born; Apollo 1 had its fire in 1967. Unlike many, then, I have no recollection of a fatal accident involving the space program. Although I've seen footage of the Challenger explosion maybe once or twice, it seemed so distant, as if it might have happened in a different time and place...

but this accident was here, now, and seven astronauts are dead, their vehicle scattered over Texas, and all I can do is wish that whatever went wrong today hadn't, and hope that this doesn't treat the space program too badly, and sit and stare at the night sky.

I can't grasp at it properly with my words -- the link from above will give you some who collected words better than I.