[Hallicrafters] Re: [Boatanchors] Columbia, To Touch The Face Of God

[danjr]

one thing I dont understand.  Duane and others on here complain and 
gripe when someone posts something off-topic, and yet I see him doing 
it constantly.  what gives?  while Columbia was an event that affected 
all Americans, it has nothing to do with Boatanchors, Hallicrafters, 
Hammarlunds, and the like.  Duane .. follow your own rules.  With 1500+ 
messages in my mailbox each week, I dont need excess gibberish.

> 
> 	
> Today is February 1, 2004. It marks the first anniversary of the 
death of the
> seven incredibly brave, totally dedicated and ultimately human, 
astronauts
> aboard the space shuttle Columbia. They reached for the stars, they 
touched the
> stars and due to the break up of the space shuttle during reentry, 
became a part
> of those stars that twinkle while the Earth wears its nightly cloak 
of darkness.
>     		
> 	
> We as Americans, and fellow humans regardless of race or country of 
residence,
> all need to remember them on this historic and indescribably painful 
day in the
> history of man's attempts to reach out his frail and feeble hand to 
touch the
> face of God. To go where no man has gone before. To slip the surly 
bonds of
> earth and soar into uncharted places where constellations live and 
galaxies
> swirl. To look into the black velvet depths of the night sky as our 
moon casts
> an eerie beckoning light coaxing us to go to that planet of red or 
those Jovian
> moons or to meet the rings of Saturn. Then maybe to one day stand on 
mars and
> gaze at our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centura, a mere 4.3 light years 
away, a mere
> footstep on a cosmic scale, and wonder if someone there is looking 
back at us
> wondering if that third planet from that class M star has water on 
it. To ask
> the biggest question, knowing our brain can not begin to comprehend 
the answers,
> should they be revealed to us. Yet we ask, because we must. Is there 
intelligent
> life out there, anywhere? If so, are they like us? Even though we as 
yet do not
> know for certain there is, something inside us tells us that there is 
and that
> we are	
> not  alone in this infinite cosmic greatness.   			
> 	
> So was the mission of Columbia and those that went before her and 
shall go after
> her. 
> 
> Space travel is a highly risky business with countless unknowns and 
sometimes
> success after success lulls us into a hypnotic state of false 
security. The
> technology evolved and involved in the efforts of NASA over the past 
four
> decades has benefited mankind in more ways than most of us can even 
imagine.
> Unbelievable electronics, life saving medicine beyond our doctors 
wildest dreams
> a mere decade ago and numerous home, transportation and personal 
safety devices
> we all depend on daily. But there is always a price to be paid for a 
gain.
> Unfortunately, and all too often, it is the ultimate price. The life 
of someone
> we love, respect or idolize.     	
> 	
> When the unthinkable happens, as did with Columbia, Challenger and 
Apollo we
> must not, we dare not, abandon the dreams our compatriots gave up 
their lives
> for. We must bear the pain, endure the hurt and continue to reach for 
those
> stars despite tears in our eyes, with undying love for our friends 
who are now
> among those stars and continue to stretch out our curious hand in the 
hope that
> one day we too will touch the face of God and understand what they 
now know. It
> is our insatiable curiosity that causes us to push against the 
boundaries of the
> unknown and it will be this quest of knowledge that enables us to 
survive in
> spite of our own best efforts to eradicate ourselves.     		
	
> 	
> Let us not ask 'why?', but why not? 	
> 	
> Duane Fischer, W8DBF    
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
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