02/04/2003 Archived Entry: "Columbia"
The Columbia memorial service was peaceful and calm. We arrived at JSC at about 9:30, having been told that space would be limited for the service, which was to start at noon. After a half-mile of walking and a security checkpoint, Massurah and I stood in the central mall by Building 16, lost amidst a sea of people. The stage and podium were distant specks, far on the other side of the grassy field, and we passed the two and a half hours in uncomfortable, standing silence. Air Force 1, trailed by three F-15s, circled on her way down to Ellington Field. The crowd swelled to maximum density just after eleven, and at noon, with no fanfare, President Bush and his wife arrived and together walked to their place on the stage. They held hands, which stuck in my mind--even the most powerful man in the world holds hands with his wife.
There was an invocation, and then words from NASA's director and the chief of the Astronaut Corps. Both paid tribute to each astronaut individually, and the Corps chief in particular came close to crying. The president stepped to the podium next and spoke eloquently about the human spirit. The only even vaguely political words that left his mouth were ultimately topical--he said that the space program would continue. Then he, too, spoke of each astronaut individually, praising their daring and dedication.
A ship's bell tolled seven times, once for each astronaut, and then four NASA T-38s flew over in the Missing Man formation. The jets moved in fast and very low, streaking toward us in a wedge at less than two hundred and fifty feet off the ground, and as they passed overhead the third jet back on the left side of the formation peeled sharply upward, right as the roar of the engines pounded through our bodies. The missing man jet arched high and straight up as the formation continued onward, now with an empty spot to recognize that there are men and women who are no longer with us. I have never before witnessed anything so wordlessly elegant, and so profoundly moving, as that trio of jets passing low over the rest of the NASA complex, with their missing comrade thousands of feet above and rocketing higher still toward heaven.
I'll have scanned pictures of the program tomorrow. It's nothing special, but it is tasteful.
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