![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
just found out
Feb. 1st, 2003 01:17 pmI slept very late this morning. I first heard about Columbia on an internet mailing list, of all things - I was reading the normal posts and then came across an announcement. D. is listening to NPR in the next room, but it's not clear enough for me to make out words, though I know now what they are talking about.
I still remember where I was when Challenger blew up. I was in 8th grade and it was a snow day, so my sister and I were home while my parents were at work. I woke up late (natch) and was soaking in the tub when my sister ran up and banged on the bathroom door to tell me what happened. I was stunned then, as I am now. We watched the tv for the rest of the day and called our parents at work (I guess - I remember finding out clearly, but not afterwards).
I never know how to react to these things. They are always a terrible tragedy, but don't affect me personally. I am reluctant to turn on the television because if my Friends list is any indication, they are already running the coverage into the ground - oversaturation to the point of overwhem/desensitization.
From an unemotional standpoint, it seems likely that the U.S. space program is going to be set back for several years.
From an emotional standpoint, most news reports indicate that this almost certainly WASN'T a case of terrorism (though I'm sure the conspiracy theories will come rolling in any day now). This is a small comfort.
Right now I'm just speechless. The best that might be said is that this was a freak accident - broken heat tiles, coming in at the wrong trajectory - but there's a desperate need to find A Reason, a Why and How so it can be prevented from happening again, when in reality sometimes Shit Just Happens, for no real reason at all except for chance error.
I'm going to go shower now, and process. Then I am sure I will need to turn the tv on.
I still remember where I was when Challenger blew up. I was in 8th grade and it was a snow day, so my sister and I were home while my parents were at work. I woke up late (natch) and was soaking in the tub when my sister ran up and banged on the bathroom door to tell me what happened. I was stunned then, as I am now. We watched the tv for the rest of the day and called our parents at work (I guess - I remember finding out clearly, but not afterwards).
I never know how to react to these things. They are always a terrible tragedy, but don't affect me personally. I am reluctant to turn on the television because if my Friends list is any indication, they are already running the coverage into the ground - oversaturation to the point of overwhem/desensitization.
From an unemotional standpoint, it seems likely that the U.S. space program is going to be set back for several years.
From an emotional standpoint, most news reports indicate that this almost certainly WASN'T a case of terrorism (though I'm sure the conspiracy theories will come rolling in any day now). This is a small comfort.
Right now I'm just speechless. The best that might be said is that this was a freak accident - broken heat tiles, coming in at the wrong trajectory - but there's a desperate need to find A Reason, a Why and How so it can be prevented from happening again, when in reality sometimes Shit Just Happens, for no real reason at all except for chance error.
I'm going to go shower now, and process. Then I am sure I will need to turn the tv on.
