Personal thing...Tribune Article

Back in 1986, I was a senior in dental school.  Something bad happened in January of that year - something that has impacted our nation's space program, echoing even to today.  The space shuttle Challenger exploded on launch, killing all seven astronauts, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.  (Did I spell that wrong?)

Neal Armstrong died a few days ago.  Most of you will remember that he was the first man to step onto the surface of the moon.  Well, I was reading science fiction author Steven M. Moore's blog entry on the subject, where he discussed his own feelings about Armstrong's legacy and what has happened to our space program, and I recalled in the comments there that I wrote an op-ed piece shortly after the disaster and submitted it to the Chicago Tribune. 

I never was contacted by the Trib to let me know the fate of the article, but a couple weeks later, my friend called me and told me that his mom had seen the article in that Sunday's Tribune.  I went out and bought some copies, of course, and I was always proud that they thought enough of the article to put it in there. 

Steve asked if I could maybe repost it as a guest entry on his blog, and I said okay, assuming I can locate my copies.  I immediately googled it and, lo and behold, there it is! 

Man's Destiny Is In Space

I wrote this as an idealistic, enthusiastic young man who was inspired by the future promised by continued exploration of space.  Have a read if you would like.  I think it holds up pretty good.

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