Monkeys Typing Shakespeare

When I was 16, I woke up to the horrible news that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded on lift off. For a moment my dreams were shattered. I was in love with the idea of space travel and I felt an immense closeness with the space program and was awed at the majesty of those early shuttle flights. Today I awoke with similar bad news, the Shuttle Columbia and all her crew - lost. In the seventeen years since the first shuttle tragedy our nation’s space science program has grown to a fleet of shuttles and a permanent outpost. The men and women we call astronauts take on extreme risk every time they reach out and bring mankind closer to the stars. They are heroes.

Throughout history, humans have always sought out answers. Answers to the kinds of questions that, it seemed, only the gods were privy to. Why does the Sun rise? Why does an apple fall down and not up? Why do stars twinkle? Why are we here?

Men and women devoted to science seek truths to satisfy our insatiable appetite for knowledge. Some toil away for years in sterile laboratories trying to tease molecules apart or decipher the code to life itself. Others take extreme risks and travel to the edge of volcanoes, into the depths of the sea or to the outer reaches of our atmosphere. They all work with similar passion and with a similar goal. To take mankind further. To seek the unknown and to educate us about what is and what is possible.

Today we lost seven bold and adventurous men and women who had dedicated themselves to discovery. Today we will mourn their loss and pay tribute to them and their families. Today we acknowledge the incredible danger and risk that can come with exploration. But, Tomorrow, we will continue to seek truths and find answers. It is our destiny. It was theirs.

With respect,
“Dr.” Adam Safran