A prayer for the astronauts of Columbia.

I hope they found piece with God before he took them. They are in a much better place.

~My heart and Prayers go out to them~

^pray^

piece = peace

may god watch over the crew for all time,prayers from the UK

Heavenly Father, They are now Your children in Your Hands, they are our Heroes.
Amen

May they take comfort in knowing that they are home in a much better place and they are with God and our Lord Jesus. That's what we have to try to focus on in a tragedy like this.

God Bless

My heartfelt sympathies go out to the families of these brave travelers....
Please let them find the peace and serenity to go on without their loved ones.

Father we know that You in Your infinite wisdom allow tragedies like this to happen. You tell us to trust in You with all of our heart, and not to lean on our own understandings and knowledge. We ask that you have mercy and grace to these families during their time of sorrow. If they do not know You personally, may they seek Your face and call on You and be given comfort, peace, and healing that only You can give.

In a chilling irony, members of the Columbia crew observed a moment of silence on Tuesday, January 28 in honor of the lives that had been lost in both the Apollo One and Challenger missions and all others who have lost their lives in the quest to explore space. Columbia's team leader, Rick Husband called the Johnson Space Center on Tuesday afternoon saying,

"It is today that we remember and honor the crews of Apollo 1 and Challenger. They made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives and service to their country and for all mankind. Their dedication and devotion to the exploration of space was an inspiration to each of us, and still motivates people around the world to achieve great things in service to others. As we orbit the Earth, we will join the entire NASA family for a moment of silence in their memory. Our thoughts and prayers go to their families as well"
--STS-107 commander Rick Husband.

The moment of silence was followed by ringing a bell for each astronaut that has died in the line of duty.

Two members of the Columbia crew are known to be people of faith and prayer. Colonel Rick D. Husband spoke openly of the many joyful experiences he had, including the birth of his children, "Just being there with my wife, and just the awesome experience of seeing a baby come into the world--and just being so overwhelmed with God's goodness in blessing us with two wonderful children." Husband also spoke of his love of music and singing, "Well, I've been singing for a long time. When I was growing up going to church, I sang in church choir as a real little kid...Especially with some of the songs that we sing in church, just being able to sing a song to tell God how much I love Him, it just feels great. It really does."
Lieutenant Colonel Michael P. Anderson was active in his church and though quiet, his pastor said he was a man of solid faith. Reflecting on the many people who have influenced his life, including teachers and ministers, he commented, "As you look back at your life, there are just a million different things that have happened, just in the right way, to allow you to make your dreams come true. And you know, someone has all that under control."

In light of the tragedy, President Bush requested prayer for the families and loved ones of the shuttle Columbia's crew.

"All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country.
In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, 'Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing' (Isaiah 40:25-26).
The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.
May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless America."
--George W. Bush

Life is a precious gift given to us and loosing that is a victory won by the Devil.

However, is there any better way to loose that gift than by doing something that is loved.

The crew will go into history books and be remembered for a long time. There are countless others that will not have that prestige.

Let's not forget them and pray for those also.

They undertook the mission fully understanding the risks involved. That needs courage.

They were performing experiments that were for the betterment of humanity as whole, not for a particular people. That needs clarity of thought and aims.

They were from different backgrounds, nations, sexes, religions, races. They represented the human race.

Hence the world mourns their passing. We have a sying here which says:

'When a man comes into the world, he cries and the world laughs on his coming,
And when a great man goes from this earth, he laughs and the world sheds tears for his departure'

The whole world is sad on this incident. The men and women were truly great.

What exactly were they doing and what were their names?

What were the names of the Challenger crew that were mourned in such a great capacity as this?

The spacecraft commander was Francis R. (Dick) Scobee
The pilot for the fatal 1986 Challenger mission was Michael J. Smith
Judith A. Resnik was one of three mission specialists on Challenger
Ronald E. McNair was the second of three mission specialists aboard Challenger
Ellison S. Onizuka, was the last of the three mission specialists
Gregory B. Jarvis, a payload specialist
The last member of the crew was Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to fly in space

lets hope the sudden death of those that die in the name of science is not for nonething and that the cause of the shuttle that exploded with befound and will never to the next space people can return to home safety but let not forget the 3 men on the mira space station that my not get back down if they ground all space shuttle we pray for them to

God rest your souls and look after those who pain the great and unreplaceable lost of there loved ones

Here you go Delicious and everyone else

Columbia's crew
shuttle commander Rick Husband
Michael Anderson
David Brown
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel Clark
William McCool
Ilan Ramon

Astronaut Laurel Clark worked on a study of how bacteria and yeast develop in space and how reduced gravity affects their response to antibiotics. Astronaut Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli to fly in space, was also happy the experiment he was shepherding -- an attempt to photograph desert dust drifting over the Mediterranean in order to assess its impact on the weather -- was finally seeing some results. Other experiments are examining how fine water mists can be used to fight fires. In addition, Ramon and his six U.S. crewmates captured images of the so-called red lightning above thunderstorms. These glowing, red and purple, bagel- and jellyfish-shaped electrical phenomena, occurring in less than a millisecond, had never been recorded before from space. Space shuttle Columbia's astronauts briefly interrupted their science work on the 17th anniversary of the Challenger disaster to remember their fallen comrades honoring not only on the seven Challenger astronauts, but also the three who were killed by a fire in their Apollo spacecraft at the pad Jan. 27, 1967. They had a chat via radio about their families, their busy work schedules and a chess game between two of the astronauts.

Here's also a list of all Astronauts and Cosmonauts lost.
May this serve as a memorial to all of them.

27 January 1967 Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom Apollo I USA
27 January 1967 Edward H. White Apollo I USA
27 January 1967 Roger B. Chaffee Apollo I USA
24 April 1967 Vladimir M. Komarov Soyuz I USSR
30 June 1971 Georgi T. Dobrovolskiy Soyuz XI USSR
30 June 1971 Vladislav N. Volkov Soyuz XI USSR
30 June 1971 Viktor I. Patsayev Soyuz XI USSR
28 January 1986 Francis R. Scobee Challenger USA
28 January 1986 Michael J. Smith Challenger USA
28 January 1986 Judith A. Resnik Challenger USA
28 January 1986 Ellison S. Onizuka Challenger USA
28 January 1986 Ronald E. McNair Challenger USA
28 January 1986 Gregory B. Jarvis Challenger USA
28 January 1986 Christa McAuliffe Challenger USA
1 February 2003 Rick Husband Columbia USA
1 February 2003 William McCool Columbia USA
1 February 2003 Ilan Ramon Cloumbia Israel
1 February 2003 Michael P. Anderson Columbia USA
1 February 2003 David M. Brown Columbia USA
1 Februray 2003 Laurel Clark Columbia USA
1 February 2003 Kalpana Chawla Columbia USA

I should have said, how many crew can be named from memory since everyone was praying for them.

The experiment pertaining to dust moving reminds me of the millions of dollars the government spent to determine if it is colder on cloudy days or sunny days.

The practice of NASA is to go with the lowest bid from contractors. Could this be a factor in the malfunction and if so would they ever point it out.

I say take some of the million dollars allocated for political dinners and buy better parts.

UH OH better get MACCO

#7 by The Rated PG - 2/1/2003 11:58:32 PM

Comforting, in such a time of tragedy. Most beautifully said. Thank you.

Now there are two disturbing images in my head I'll never forget from this.
*1 The streaking sky
*2 The Astronauts helmet on the ground

But even more, this tragedy is made worse by the fact that they were all just 15 minutes from home.

And then the Israeli Astronauts children placing all their trust and faith for their fathers safety, in American Technology. So simple, so trusting; now they need all our prayers, for nothing else can ever repair the damage done in those young minds.

May GOD help us all...

I m at a loss for words...

I saw a patch from their flight suit.

I'll never forget the sight of that helmet lying on the ground...

The oldest Israeli boy said with a smile when asked if he was worried that his father might not come back, "My dad isn't worried, so neither am I"

I just can't imagine what he thinks now about America...

His Hero is gone...

And what a Hero he was...

Hammed over at DA made this. I thought it was nice.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/1266520