European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 stars and stripes tuesday february 11, 1986 columns James j. Kilpatrick America must continue the space shuttle program an hour or so after challenger exploded shaken officials of the National aeronautics and space administration announced an indefinite suspension of shuttle flights. There would be no More until the precise cause of the Accident had been pinned Down. Whatever mistake had been made in preparing for the launch this decision served Only o compound it. It will be months perhaps a year or More be fore thousands of pieces of debris can be collected examined and interpreted. The program must go on. We can t quit now. At the risk of seeming hard hearted let me suggest that the event be put in perspective. It was not strictly speaking a  truly tragic events involves Cal moral or ethical conflicts Blind oedipus mad Lear. There was none of that Here. That seven people died in an Accident is not at All unusual. These were relatively Young attractive and gifted people. We Grieve for them and for their families. The death of the Young with everything to live for always is an occasion of Sor Row. But much younger people constantly arc numbered in the Highway toll. A thousand people die of cancer every Day. Someone somewhere is weeping now. What then made this Story so Spe Cial for one thing the nation could identify with these seven in ways that we cannot identify with strangers. For weeks we had folo cd the training of Christa Mcauliffe the 37-year-old teacher from Concord . We had seen her on Tele vision. We had come to know her cheerful Grin her Pride in her profession. The six astronauts were not Well known but in a sense we knew their parents. They were part of a familiar family a family we have come to know through 55 missions into space.  often comes suddenly and often Carl Rowan by the maw ,1ve pioneers  &p16rwwn or a series of unmanned Prairie pr0b6 Vehik violently but Seldom under such horrify ing circumstances. The families were watching As challenger lifted into flight. Then they saw the fireball and a moment later in a dreadful silence came the obscene Worms of smoke the fatal rain upon the sea. So much Hope so much anticipation and now the calamitous unbelievable fact challenger was gone. The nation watched and shuddered and wept. The circumstances were horrifying but again let us search for perspective. Every person who has flown on a Clear Day across the Western Stales must have entertained the same passing thought How did the pioneers Ever make it we look Down from 30,000 feet on forbidding mountains and exhausting deserts. In the mind s Eye we Sec the pitiful Wagon trains and we imagine the hardships those travellers endured. Many of them never made it. They too died after take off and Many died As violently As the seven who died on that tuesday at Cape canaveral Fla. The Westward movement never stopped. New Wagon trains were formed new Drivers found. The Early history of aviation tells the same Story. We Nave forgotten How Many Brave men went to their deaths As aircraft age. We never stopped flying. So it must be with space i Tion. Challenger s sad ending wracking heartbreaking Disapio it was a costly and terrible set the president had it exactly right shuttle missions will go on and tier will be More shuttle Crews and yet m volunteers More civilians More of in space of course. Let us men. The dead restore the flags to full ,4 and get Back to work. Life goes on. Tint Una virus Prtini Smatt what made the challenger disaster so special the first 10 paces of the Jan. 29 edition of the new York times contained not a single Story about anything other than the explosion of the shuttle Chal longer and the deaths of the seven Astro nauts aboard. Less than 24 hours after that terrible tragedy 21 people died in the crash of a dc-3 in Mexico. That got three paragraphs on Page five of thurs Day s new York times. Television evening news and morning talk shows have been dominated by the challenger disaster but not a word has been spoken about any of the Highway accidents that claimed probably 77 lives on that tuesday. I bring this up because people have telephoned me asking questions about the news and value judgments of the Ameri can people. It is important i think for us to Ponder what sets the challenger trag Edy apart from routine accidents and most other calamities. An automobile collision is an Accident. The explosion of challenger was a nation Al disaster. That mexican Airliner went Down in the indifference of the fog that shrouded the los mochas Mexico Landing strip. Challenger exploded in full View of Mil Lions of proud and caring people including parents relative and friends of the seven astronauts. Does that make the lives lost on the shuttle More precious to god than those lost in a Highway crash one woman asked me. The history of flight to no i replied but in the context of Public interest and news to compare a Highway collision with the explosion of challenger is like comparing a pileup of Bullock carts going to Market to the departure and perils of Christopher Columbus. Americans know and appreciate that driving a car is a routine risk that we take because we must. Taking a shuttle into space is a greater risk that people take because they have compulsions to teat Down frontiers to learn the unknown to serve at the cutting Edge of human Prog news coverage of the challenger Trae Edy has been and will remain intense by1 cause it has opened a few secret nooks a., crannies and allowed us to learn a bit about the Speed with which the pen and while House were Moying to a Rize outer space. The Pentagon has the loss of challenger will have a a Impact on military programs Dai iwo keep America informed As to Way soviet Union is doing and on is. To Rush Forward with the strategic initiative or Star  the me focus on this fallout from the exploiter a Long time. Then there is the tendency blame in any National disaster of blame never assigned in an at Dent or Small plane crash. Did Nap Oam. Aeronautics and space Admaitis it facials ignore a warning from International that icy conditions peril the launch of Challens Nasa been cutting Corners Beau foreign Competition trying to meet a j Genously Busy launch schedule Are lives of congressmen teachers Ujj jew and other civilians being put at risk 0purpose other than to maximize p support for greater appropriation Naoa r i there Are Many reasons explosion of challenger is an c nary news Story that merits and get extraordinary attention Pfoff Media. They Are important Val that go far beyond valuing one being s life above another s