Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
'High Flight' by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
...
In 1986, I was a young child. I cried when I heard the loss of our space people.
In 2003, I was a young man, I wept when I heard the loss of our heros who risk their lifes for the name of science.
STS-107, Thank you for being a hero, to the United States, and to the World. Goodbye. May God's love and blessing be with you.
Fatz