RE: shuttle breaks up on re-entry

From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Feb 03 2003 - 08:44:23 MST

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    My father was a huge fan of Jack London. I grew up with a plaque devoted
    to Jack London on the wall of my family's dining room. Under Jack
    London's photograph were these words attributed to him:

            I would rather be ashes than dust!
            I would rather that my spark should burn out
                in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
            I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
                of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent
    planet.
            The function of man is to live, not to exist.
            I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
            I shall use my time.

    After the Challenger disaster in 1986, I dug up that old plaque and
    placed it on the wall of my own home. That Challenger incident brought
    tears to my eyes; Jack London's words took on a new meaning then that I
    could never have imagined as a small child.

    London's words seem even more meaningful today than they were then, so I
    thought I would post them here.

    -gts



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