Required reading...

[alexpgp]

The pain of Columbia's loss has dimmed over what has been nearly a decade. I remember I cried when the news of the Orbiter's loss was confirmed.

I had worked with Rick Husband and William McCool briefly (and separately) some years before they flew that ill-fated STS-107 mission. I don't remember what my assignment with them was, at the time, but I clearly remember noting their (to me) memorable surnames as introductions were made.

That's why it was particularly riveting for me to read a blog post by Wayne Hale (a NASA veteran who sat in the Flight Director's chair during 40 missions), titled How We Nearly Lost Discovery (during the "Return to Flight" after Columbia, no less!).

You have to love space technology.

Cheers...

Comments

R.I.P.

[grosh.livejournal.com]

It seems your feelings very close to Boris Chertok's feelings described in his book "Ракеты и люди. Горячие дни холодной войны" (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090028008_2009028679.pdf) I've just read... when he lost Korolev, Komarov and Gagarin one by one.

This is a very heavy.