Thursday, February 7, 2003
Touching the face of God - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER – Tomorrow at the National Cathedral in Washington, a memorial service will take place for the seven crew members of the space shuttle Columbia, who perished last Saturday, the first of February.
There is nothing more to be said, that hasn't been said already about the tragic events of last Saturday. There's that wonderful piece written by Nancy Gibbs in this week's edition of Time. There are the moving and comforting words of President Bush, delivered on Saturday, as well as his tribute at the service on Tuesday. To put it all in perspective, I am reminded of what Jay Barbree of NBC News said. He said that we lay people tend to believe that to live a full life, you have to reach the age of seventy or beyond. Clearly, the seven on board STS-107 have done more in their far too short lives, than any of us can possibly dream.
In that same issue of Time that the Gibbs piece ran, there's one by Gregg Easterbrook, who writes that perhaps the space program in the United States should be halted. He suggests that the space shuttle should be gutted in favour of something cheaper and safer, considering it has exploded twice now – Challenger in 1986 and Columbia. Clearly, many hold some of the same sentiments now. That old argument that perhaps the billions spent to fund NASA and projects like these, would be far better spent in the inner cities of America, has some resonance. However it does a disservice to the memories of the seven that perished. Space exploration was their vocation, and for all of us – irrespective of citizenship – will truly benefit for many years and eons to come.
There are questions to be asked. NASA, which tried to cover up some facts surrounding the explosion of the Challenger 17 years ago, is being questioned again and vociferously. Had something been known that could have prevented Saturday? At launch, were there any signs that a problem could arise should they re-enter the earth's atmosphere? Investigators will rightly ask these questions, not to affront the memories of the seven who died, but to preserve the integrity of an honourable space program.
One of the more interesting things I've heard on television since early Saturday morning, is this notion of whether NASA or the astronauts on these missions have a ‘Plan B' should an emergency occur. We all hope to God that when the end came for these seven, it was rapid as it could be. Reports as late as yesterday afternoon say that the astronauts themselves would have about 90 seconds to know they were about to die. Were there any contingencies whereby the astronauts could have resisted death? Probably not, considering their descent was so fast. (I read somewhere that upon its re-entry into the earth's atmosphere it is possible that the shuttle's occupants could eject from the craft. However that contingency is only availible if the speed of shuttle can be controlled. For the Challenger craft, because it was going up, and so much force is needed for a launch, it would have been impossible for an ejection. Here to, it would have been impossible, because their descent into the earth's atmosphere was so rapid.) Mission control could not have possibly dispatched another shuttle to retrieve the astronauts fast enough. But think about it. Columbus did not have a ‘Plan B' should his boats have sunk. What we tend to forget is that space missions like STS-107 are indeed so special, in that they who conduct them are pioneers. They are discovering and charting new worlds for us to discover and comprehend.
Over my early breakfast on Saturday morning, I learned of the disaster on CNN. Immediately, I went searching for President Reagan's touching and moving words on the demise of Challenger in 1986. When I figured out the obviousness that Columbia was lost, I thought of Ronald Reagan's spirit in those oh so comforting and wonderful words. That last line, moves me to this day, and finding it on Saturday, I was both moved and comforted again. President Reagan had said for those seven who died aboard Challenger, we shall not forget those who "as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye . . . ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth' to ‘touch the face of God.'"
Peggy Noonan had a piece on the Wall Street Journal website Saturday afternoon. Noonan was a speech writer for President Reagan, and besides discussing what President Bush had to say in his remarks following Columbia, her piece looked at the crafting of President Reagan's remarks on the tragic day Challenger was lost in 1986. She writes that the President was briefing the major network anchors on his State of the Union address which was to have been delivered that night. When word came that Challenger had exploded, President Reagan spoke of the tragedy with the journalists assembled and that became the basis of his later remarks that evening. He quoted from John Magee's poem, "High Flight," where those two most moving lines above "slipped the surly bonds of earth' and ‘touched the face of God' were taken. Magee, was an American pilot who lost his life serving in World War II, however the US hadn't gone in yet. Magee served and died with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
President Bush's own words brought comfort to the solemnity of Saturday. A man whose religion is both fierce and sincere, he quoted the prophet Isaiah on Saturday saying, "‘Lift your eyes and look to the heavens,' the same Creator who names the stars knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today." Noonan writes that the President's remarks were "explicitly God-based . . . and that seemed just right." At moments of national tragedy, we look to our leaders for guidance, but most of all comfort. At moments of great sadness and tragedy, president's tap into their "primary thought-stream." President Bush "went straight to the spiritual," and in a most busy week for him and his nation, the tragedy of Columbia shows us the metal of which America is made.
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An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .