It was 1st Feb, 2003, 08:58:24 when Columbia Space Shutte shed it’s first debris across the middle US states. What followed was the realisation of the disintegration of the space shuttle, which spewed debris from Dallas to Arkansas, millions of them. All 7 crew members perished, like dried leaves in wildfire, blown into the wind, disappearing forever.
An amateur video from Youtube shows a father telling his children, There is the space shuttle… what you saw is an aircraft, a spacecraft, while being completely oblivious to the fact that the shuttle was disintegrating before his eyes.
The last few recorded minutes of the seven astronaunts made me realise how fragile lives are. The crew members were passing around a camcorder, in an attempt to capture the lights of hot gas and plasma when the shuttle goes into re-entry. The video ended 4 minutes short of the disintegration.
You’ll be remembered and missed dearly. You’re the bravest people on earth. Rest in peace. My deepest condolences to the family members and friends of the perished astronauts.
P.S. Photo taken from NASA source. According to NASA’s copyright policy, its photos are not copyrighted unless stated otherwise.
That’s really sad to hear and Richard Branson is trying to commercialize outerspace with his later space jet. I don’t want to die just yet.
Check out Ivy’s last blog post: Arduous Path to Graduation