This dream must not die!

seanr · February 5th, 2003, 01:51 PM

I wrote this on Sunday afternoon, and sent it to the local paper, but I thought I'd post it here too, to give some of you an insite into my personal reaction to this particular national tragedy. I made the artwork on Monday to accompany the essay.

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This dream must not die!

As a young child, I dreamed of one day leaving this world and gazing back upon it from space. I dreamed of floating among the heavens, weightless. Someone once said that Heaven is the place where all your dreams come true. I once said that to live among the heavens is to truly be in Heaven. I used to read every book I could get my hands on about space and space exploration. I once successfully named every single manned rocket NASA has launched at a county fair, and I still have in my apartment now a two and a half foot tall model of Columbia that my dad and I built when I was seven or eight years old. That dream, though deferred, still lives on in me. I still gaze in wonder toward the stars and watch in awe as other men and women live my dream. I long ago decided that dream was beyond my grasp, and turned it towards an intense interest in science fiction and space art, but I still marvel at those people who make more and more of that dream a reality every day. In an age seemingly devoid of true heroes, these people are my heroes.

I first saw the news headline on PilotOnline yesterday, going to check movie listings. "No, not again!", I thought, transfixed by the hauntingly beautiful image staring back at me. I still remember the Challenger accident and the setback that caused the space program. I have grown up with the shuttle program, I even watched Columbia lift off for the first time ever with my dad in 1981, though I was too young to remember it. I feel today like I have lost a friend I've known all my life, one who gave me hope, encouraged me to dream, and demonstrated all that is good in humanity. Surely that friend, those seven men and women, and the ten lost before them would chafe at the thought of their loss causing us to reevaluate or scale back our role in space exploration. They would say, "This dream is what we gave our lives for!" At 0900 EST, February 1st, 2003, seven of the dreamers died, but the dream lives on in the men and women who will take their place without hesitation, and in people like me who would give nearly anything for a single chance to touch the heavens. This dream must not die! We must push forward ever harder, with a resolve and determination unknown since the early days of Apollo. We must finish the International Space Station. We must go to Mars. We must push farther, and harder, and strive to make that dream a reality, and expand it beyond the limits of our imagination. All things worth doing carry great risk; we must not allow fear of that risk to paralyze us, but instead use it to inspire us to try even harder, improve the technology, and extend our reach even further. 'Great is the glory," Wordsworth once said, "for the strife is hard."

As I gazed skyward last night, there were seven new stars among the heavens. May they rest in peace.

February 5th, 2003, 03:17 PM

Very eloquent words, Sean. And an excellent piece of art as well. I too want to touch the stars, and I will never forget the sacrifice of all of the people who have worked so hard to bring that goal closer. I'm very proud to be a member of a community like 3DG (and others), that has put so much thought and insight into honoring our pioneers. I think we should gather all of the material that has been posted here and create a package that we can all send to our congressional representatives to show how important this is to us. If you don't mind I wold like to start on such a project and include your words and image.

If you agree, what do you think the best format is? I'm inclined to go with a PDF, so it can be printed easily and mailed in hardcopy. What do you think?

seanr · February 5th, 2003, 03:27 PM

I actually intend to send my essay seperately, but you're welcome to include it in whatever you send. Hardcopy is always preferable, as politicians get so many emails now that most of them are discarded before they ever reach their desks.

Darrell Lawrence · February 5th, 2003, 03:54 PM

sean, very eloquent words indeed.

VayVay, I like that idea, and why send it only to Congress reps, when perhaps a memorial magazine would also be nice,

There is a magazine called AdAstra that a friend of mine subscribes to. I think sending them (and other magazines) something like this would be nice as well.

February 5th, 2003, 03:59 PM

Thanks Sean.

Darrel, good point. Once it's done there's no reason we can't send it wherever we think it will do some good.

Reaperman · February 5th, 2003, 04:14 PM

sure, i dont mind if u wanna use my pics

seanr · February 5th, 2003, 06:11 PM

I intend to send signed copies of that letter to all of my representatives, from city hall right up to the White House.

BTW, it got published in the local paper, but they left out the last line!!!!!! The single most important line! They're blithering idiots, I tell you; utterly incompetant fools, I say!!

Thomas P · February 5th, 2003, 07:40 PM

Excellent words Sean. I am amazed at the number of people, including myself, that upon hearing the news utterred 'No, not again!' I completely agree, great things only come to those who are willing to make the greatest sacrifices.

Very nice art that went with it.

seanr · February 5th, 2003, 07:49 PM

Thanks. Regarding tha artwork, the photo of the earth and moon that I used for the background was actually taken by the astronauts on that mission and beamed back to earth before they died.

seanr · February 6th, 2003, 08:25 AM

I came across this poem online today which appears to be the original from which Ronald Reagon quoted in his address after the challenger disaster in 1986:

High Flight
by John Gillespie Magee, Jr

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew -
And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

I rather wish Reagon had quoted that in it's entirety.

Here's a site with more info:
http://www.callofduty.com/articles/highflight.html