On February 1 2003, President George W. Bush concluded his sad announcement of Columbia's destruction with these words:

"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.

"May God bless the grieving families and may God continue to bless America."

Over half a century earlier, on September 3 1941, the following words were written by John Gillespie Magee, Jr:

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence; hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Magee was an American who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before the United States had entered into WWII.. He was killed in 1941, the same year he wrote the poem "High Flight," while flying a Spitfire fighter. He was 19 years old.

Courage to do what one believes is right knows no age, no gender, no nationality, no religion. Those who have shown that they had "the Right Stuff" have been men and women, Black, White, Hispanic, Native American and Asian, Christian, Jew, Sikh and Buddhist, American-born, naturalized citizens, and citizens of many allied nations.

In 1967, the crew of Apollo One died doing what they believed was worth the risk. One of those three, Gus Grissom, before his death said these words:

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."

The crew of Columbia must have understood this risk. They looked it in the face and made their decision that what they were doing was worthwhile, even as they remembered the crews of Apollo One and the Challenger. On January 28 2003, Columbia commander, Rick Husband, spoke the following words in memory of those who had gone one before, even as at Johnson Space Center, 10 bells tolled, one for each of the astronauts who had died:
"It is today that we remember and honour the crews of Apollo 1 and Challenger. They made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives and service to their country and for all mankind.

"Their dedication and devotion to the exploration of space was an inspiration to each of us and still motivates people around the world to achieve great things and service to others."

There will be those who will say that we have over-stepped our boundaries by going into space. There will be those who will say that manned space flight should end; that it is too costly in dollars and in human lives. There will be those who will say that all of the benefits of space; medical research, global mapping and communications, research in astronomy and physics and chemistry, etc.... that none of that is worth the cost.

But the American people must decide that question. The crews of Apollo One, Challenger, and Columbia truly "touched the face of God" in their endeavors. Will we say that their sacrifices were in vain? Or will we take up the torch... and carry it even farther?

There were to have been plans presented this month by NASA. Plans for going on to farther destinations and greater goals. Plans for sending men and women to Mars within the next decade. Some people will now say that such ideas should be set aside.

But if you believe that the United States should learn from our mistakes, correct them, and go on to do even more marvelous things, then make your feelings known. Contact your Senator and your Congressman. Tell them that the USA should not back down, now or ever, from the challenge of space exploration. And, if you feel so inclined, pass this e-mail along to a friend.

Steve Shewmake
Topeka, KS
February 2, 2003