Dear America, NASA, and The World,With your permission?
When Lieutenant Colonel Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom and the crew of Apollo 1 went en flamb�e on January 27, 1967... we not only went forward, but we redoubled our efforts.
As our Shuttle Fleet is elderly, and has-flown/will-continue-to-fly for a very long time, may we build some new units please?
And may we get it in gear to go to back to the Moon, on to Mars, and beyond?
I watched this launch (on DirecTV's NASA TV channel) and the progress of Columba through her mission--she and her crew did the world proud.
I think to a one, even now, they would all agree deeply with a comment from Grissom:
"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
-Gus Grissom
PS.?
I hung out on my hammock in the backyard between 3 and 4 AM (Wednesday/Thursday?) earlier this week--watching Columbia twinkling past overhead. It was the first time in years that the skies were clear and I had a chance to watch a flyby at night. Grinning my ass off, I heartily wished then and there that I'd get to physically see/hear/feel the launch of a Mars Mission.
Here's to continued hoping.
--DaSauceFeelsLoss