Ken Calvert: “this past Saturday a tragedy occurred that touched every one of us. We lost seven brave explorers and now grieve along…”

“this past Saturday a tragedy occurred that touched every one of us. We lost seven brave explorers and now grieve along with their friends and family. In our modern world, we have grown comfortable with the frequent occurrence of space travel, forgetting that with each mission, there is risk. The men and women of Columbia knew the risks, and in the name of discovery accepted them. We owe each one of these brave voyagers a great deal of gratitude and reverence. As a country we hold life and freedom as our highest values, and it is natural for us to question the meaning behind the Columbia mission to determine whether it was worth the loss we feel now. One of the ironies of such a tragedy is that the valuable work these men and women were doing is now on the front pages of every newspaper and in the headlines of our evening news programs. If the mission had been completed as scheduled, there would have been perhaps a column on the back page of the newspaper or a 30 second newsbyte. Outside of the space community, few people are aware of the extraordinary advances being made in the fields of medicine, agriculture, physical and biological science by our space programs. Our missions into space will continue to hold a measure of risk and I believe we should support these missions in every way possible. Our country has had a tradition of leading the way in exploration in every field, and that tradition should continue.”