This morning I awoke to news of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. I leave the radio on at all times so it was a sort of surreal intrusion that became all to real when I got out of bed and turned the TV on. Later I was online with another member of the IM editorial team and he hadn't heard the news yet. However within minutes he was also up to speed. Shortly after this, Dave Zulis, a member of the WWI Model Mailing list, posted the following which I think sums up the speed in which we now find out the news.
"I cannot help but be amazed at the way our world communicates in the year 2003. A man in Texas was in his back yard, having his morning coffee, when he saw what he thought was a meteorite. He called his wife, who decided to get her digital camera and take some pictures. They then went inside, turned on the tv, and heard CNN saying that something was wrong with the shuttle... and only THEN did they hear the sonic boom from the event. They immediately sent their digital pics to CNN by email and they were shown to the world. And here we are, scattered all over the world, discussing it in a newsgroup."
Right now there isn't much to say other than our hearts go out to the families and friends of those invovled.
Bob Pearson
