The Day Space Fell to Earth

By John Graham

February 2nd, 2013

On Friday, February 1, 2013 our nation remembered the tenth anniversary of the death of seven brave astronauts when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on its descent from space.  Many in Texas were especially touched by the experience, as debris rained down from the heavens.  Large pieces of the shuttle gave a loud whistling sound and thud as they crashed into the ground.  Many thought our nation was being bombed.  After a memorial service following the crash, a pastor when to every site where astronaut remains were recovered in Sabine County near the Louisiana border with Texas.  At each site he read a verse from Joshua 1:5-9:  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  The remembrance of that day remains etched in the heart of many Texans.  A Columbia museum has been created and in a case there are a few tatered pages of a diary written in Hebrew by the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon.  On those pages is a prayer that Ramon planned to recite while in orbit.  Ir reads: “Creation was the true miracle; and God, not man, was the true ‘King of the Universe.’ ”  Learning of this, the Chairman of our Board of Trusttes at ISH, Rabbi David Lyon of Congregation Beth Israel wrote:  “Beautiful references to prayer and scripture.  We remember every ten years, but the families remember every day.  God bless our heroes.”  To that I can only agree.  John K Graham, MD, DMin, President/CEO of ISH