It Took a Tragedy to Put Space Heroes on Our Radar

The Boston Herald

If they had landed safely, it would have been just another mission. We wouldn't know their names. We wouldn't be reading about their histories and their families and the lives they lived and the things they did and were planning to do.

It takes a tragedy to get our attention, and that's a shame, because we owe the dedicated men and women who are part of America's space program more than our condolences when something goes wrong. We owe them our appreciation and our respect - all of the time. We owe them, at the very least, the attention we give to fly-by-nights such as Evan on "Joe Millionaire" and Trista on "The Bachelorette."

On Jan. 16, the day the shuttle Columbia rocketed into space to begin its 16-day research mission, there were no front-page headlines saying, "Columbia all set to fly!" Instead, there was a story about doctors leaving surgical tools in patients, a story about a Brockton security guard who killed his daughter, wife and mother-in-law, and a lead-in to a story about how Americans are making themselves over on national television.

We continually lament the lack of heroes and role models in today's world. But we have heroes, and seven of them died yesterday. There have been 113 flights in NASA's 22-year-old space shuttle program, and they have been full of heroes. But what do we know about these flights and the men and women who go up in the air or stay on the ground working behind the scenes? How many astronauts are household names? How many space explorers have been interviewed on news shows? Who, other than commentators on National Public Radio, actually talk about the space program, praise it and get excited about it?

It is so far off our radar screen that we know next to nothing about all the strides made in medical research because of space travel. And if asked how these flights in space have advanced civilization, we'd be hard pressed to come up with even a few facts. Is the world a better place because of the daring men and women who have strapped themselves into metal containers and flown thousands of miles above the earth?

"Yes, of course," we'd say. 

But we couldn't back it up.

This was an important mission for the shuttle Columbia, an amazing feat, but it wasn't, "Wow. Can you believe it? Isn't it unbelievable that this thing is up there and the astronauts are talking and we can hear them?" This wasn't water cooler talk. But it is now. It is today. When something goes wrong, then everyone cares.

There had never been an accident during a landing. That's what was said over and over yesterday.

Is that why until yesterday's tragedy we were so blase? Or were we blase because we were uninformed? Because the news media, which pull our strings and make us care about the dumbest things, haven't made us care about this?

In the two weeks and two days the astronauts were up in space, researching how ants and bees and spiders behave in weightlessness, how many stories did you read about them and their research? How many news shows did you see recapping their days? How many personal profiles? What did we really know other than that there was an Israeli on board and that this meant tightened security during takeoff and landing?

The space program is an amazing blend of science, research, technology, human valor, dedication and curiosity. And despite the tragedies and loss of human life, it has been an incredible success. But you don't hear it and you don't read it, so you don't think about it. It's that simple.

We never appreciate what we have until we lose it. Who, before yesterday morning, would have even recognized the names Richard Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon?

Now there will be touching stories and eulogies. Now we will get to know the brave men and women whom we should have known, and valued, before.

They died seeking to learn more about our world in order to make the world better. We need to mourn them. But we need to honor them, too. And the best way to do this is to honor their profession and pay attention to the next group of astronauts and the work they do.