Today we lost more than seven human lives, but we also risk to lose their own dreams, as they might well fade away like the remains of their ship.
I was watching on television as their family members addressed the nation with pride, not a single tear on their eye, and spoke of honor. How their kin did not fear death, because their dream was even greater than pride and desire for glory.
They did not care to die as heroes, because they risked their lives for something greater. And that is what makes them true heroes.
I watched the sister of Michael P. Anderson say things that captivated me even more than the Presidents speech. She talked of how she did not despair, because her brother died doing what he truly loved and believed in. She looked sad, but she was strong, a character trait that she shared with him. She wasnt even crying because there was no reason for it.
What saddens me even more than the death of the astronauts is to see a nation fall into hopelessnes. To see this event as another tragic misfortune that seems to plague this nation as of late.
I even felt rage as the nation scrambled in paranoia, almost trying to believe that this accident was the cause of someone else doing us harm.
I have a fear, which I hope is unfounded, that their deaths may end up being in vain. That like it has happened before (though some may not admit) we may shy away from the beautiful goals set by a generation before us. That we may put an early end to an enterprise that is not even getting started.
I hope that this is not the case. I hope that, in the same spirit of 9/11, we can recover RIGHT NOW and determine ourselves to rebuild what we lost.
Build it better, stronger, safer, and more beautiful than the one before. And soon. Because we need that pride now.
We do not lack the volunteers, the skill, and the determination. What we need is hope, hard work, and curiosity, given that the new generations will continue the tradition of discovery and victory set as a great standard by our ancestors.
