COLUMN: All needs remembered, somehow

A person on X posted a picture last Tuesday. The picture was one of the pieces of the Space Shuttle Challenger recovered after its explosion on Jan. 28, 1986. The picture, posted by someone with the label spacenerd, included a note of “forever remembered.”

I responded with, “I hope you have a photo for Saturday, Feb. 1, too.”

I still remember Jan. 28, 1986.

I was in seventh grade, 13 years old and thinking I was having the best year of my life. Maybe today’s 13 year olds think something similar but we have moments, almost always unexpected, that make us think longer and deeper for our age.

The Challenger disaster that killed all seven astronauts aboard happened about an hour into my school day. As other schools across the country had the TV on wheel-cart rolled into their rooms, I don’t remember watching it live. But as soon as the news hit the radio and TV, it was a discussion at school. I don’t know how many 13 year olds think of mortality, no matter if it’s in 1986 or 2025. I wonder if kids know the 70,000 fans and teams in Kinnick Stadium are waving to kids at the end of the first quarter in the neighboring hospital

One of the Challenger’s missions was to launch a satellite to better track Halley’s Comet. The famous comet was visible from Earth that year. It is not scheduled to be seen again until 2061. I will turn 89 that year. I don’t know if I will have the vision to see it, let alone be alive. Again, that mortality thing. If I am still around and not mentally and cognitively changed for the worse, I will still remember the Challenger.

The Challenger anniversary was probably forgotten the day after as the country had its most fatal airline crash in 20 years. Last Wednesday evening an American Airline commercial plane collided with a military helicopter near Washington D.C. An airport and military base are only divided by the Potomac River. Everyone on both aircraft perished.

I was curious to see Thursday morning if the person who posted the Challenger picture had responded to my statement. Before I could look, a radio talk-show host encouraged listeners not to look at their social media sites for fear how quickly the airplane-helicopter crash had turned political. “If you want to keep your sanity,” he started to explain. I took the advice and didn’t look at mine.

The tragedies continued Friday evening when a smaller airplane used for health-care passengers crashed in Philadelphia killing all six on board. A death was also reported on the ground. A girl from Mexico was treated for her condition and was on the flight home to Mexico. After a week that started with a sad anniversary and followed by a tragic event in D.C., you’d hope a Friday evening would not be time to again think about tragedy or mortality.

Knowing I had plans Saturday, I started by returning to my social media feeds hoping it would be easier to view. The person had still not responded to me. Saturday was another sad anniversary. It was the 22nd anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. It broke into pieces upon reentering earth’s atmosphere. What makes it disturbing is the ship was destined for that at liftoff. A shield broke off and damaged a wing. Upon reentry, the opening in the wing allowed for all the sensors to warn ground control the intense heat during reentry was causing additional damage.

The sensors never stopped warning. Although the ship could be maneuvered to lessen the intensity of the heat, the heat would still build and cause additional internal damage. It’s the equivalent to the proverb “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” NASA staff knew the crew knew the warnings were being displayed. The crew eventually learned something was not right and not getting better. There is a short time during reentry when communication between ship and base is lost. The last communication from the ship was cut off.

By now people and TV crews were seeing streaks in the morning sky; like a slower moving falling star. NASA was preparing to again say one of their crews was not returning home. NASA estimates it was exactly 9 a.m EST. when it broke up. The crew may have already died by then. We will never know. I was home watching TV news. It was fortunate the many pieces of debris never hit a person or property as it was mostly found in east Texas.

Last week started out with a sad anniversary followed by more tragedy. And it ended with another sad anniversary.

It’s troubling when people’s dramatic deaths are front page. Let’s remember all of them and with respect.