Space travel must not be stopped

Joe Palmersheim -- Staff Column

On Feb. 2, 2003, America was reminded of the frightful cost of ambition when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over east Texas, killing the seven astronauts on board.

I was one of the many who watched the extensive coverage given to the event on the news, and it reminded me that we should never take things for granted. When I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut. Part of me still does, but the more mature part knows that will never happen. I followed the space program with an avid interest that waned once I hit my teenage years and found other diversions, such as girls and music.

For I, like many people, had become jaded with the manned shuttle program, and its seemingly pointless experiments and hum-drum efficiency. Sure, there were highlights, like docking with Mir in 1997, but for the most part, the shuttle program was kind of a yawn.

Then one of them blew up.

Once again, those of us who are old enough to remember the Challenger disaster were taken back to 1986, when the nation was asking itself the same questions that it is asking now: whether it is even worth it to continue with the exploration of space.

I believe that it is. In this exploration, we see the more noble side of human nature. The urge to see what is on the other side runs strong in us, and to risk death atop a machine that may or may not blow up on the launch pad (not to mention having billions of parts that may malfunction at any time) is a representation of courage.

In the exploration of space, countries are brought together, such as the U.S. and Russia docking space ships during the height of the Cold War, and showing us that we are all humans, regardless of what side we are on. The fact that we have an International Space Station is a testament to this fact. Countries that were once enemies are now friends, and now they work together in the name of science for the benefit of mankind.

However, this doesn't change the fact that seven brave human beings are dead, due to an as-yet-unknown mechanical failure. To those who say that we should stop the shuttle program, I say this: it would be disrespectful to the memories of all those who have died in this noble pursuit to just give up. To do this would mean that all those brave souls died in vain.

In closing, I remember once that an astronaut (I can't remember which one) was asked at a press conference why people should go into outer space. After all, we had beaten the Russians to the moon, and people were asking why we were still bothering. The astronaut thought about it for a minute, and said, "So we can look back at the Earth." Let us not be hasty and close this portal we have opened. Let us continue to look at the Earth from above.

Joe Palmersheim can be reached at
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