Where do we go from here?
Last night I found myself at the club. In many places, the gay clubs are more friendly than their straight cousins; at mine, it’s ‘Cheers’ in real life. Everyone knows my name or at least recognizes me, everyone hugs a greeting, and asks how I’ve been. Last night was more intense than usual.
Living here on the space coast of Florida, it seems that at least one in four people work for the space program in one way or another. Those who work there, even if they sweep floors or shuffle paper, feel personally responsible for success–and failure. The majority wore black, and even as the dance music played, they tried in somber voices to sort out the whys and the hows.
This morning, much of what we discussed was in the newspaper. It seems the investigation will center on the shuttle's left wing and the damage that was done on take-off. Hind sight of course is 20/20, but the same recommendations were repeated by everyone I spoke with:
- Have the equipment available and a crew member trained in case there is a need for an emergency space walk.
- Don’t launch in freezing temperatures or when there is ice on the pad.
- Have a contingency plan for docking at the space station, even if it means ditching a damaged, empty shuttle vehicle.
But the most important comment was...don’t give up. Space is our frontier; space technology is important for terrestrial technology, science and advancement in many fields. The astronauts that gave their lives on Saturday, did so for space exploration because they believed in it. We owe it to them to continue
to believe.
7:49:28 PM 
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