When I called in to secure the line, Darryl Harris asked me if I had heard about the shuttle. I had not, so he told me that contact had been lost and we may be going to live coverage of that. At that moment, my mind switched into high gear.
We suspended the interview with Sam and I told those around me what I had heard. There was only closed circuit TV from the CPAC stage in the Press Room and the "Green" room where the panel participants were housed. I approached Sam and told him that we were going to live coverage of the shuttle problem.
Sam Donaldson had just come from ABC and said he thought the whole event should be cancelled. He said to me that "the shuttle was lost." It is odd, throughout the day there was the use of the words "lost" or "gone" when talking about this. It was early afternoon before the actual words "died" and "astronauts" were used in the same sentence.
It was a strange experience. There were rumors all over the conference. We raced through our catalog of facts about the space shuttle launch. We all wondered if this was the mission with the civilian teacher or was this the one with the Israeli scientist or if there was a chance of terrorism.
At CPAC, there are presenter booths set up in the exhibit hall and many of them had TV/VCRs to play tapes to make the political points they hoped to make to the attendees. But those goals went by the wayside and if they could receive a TV signal, whatever quality, they were tuned to news coverage.
People gathered in groups around the TVs and watched. I could not help thinking of the Challenger disaster in 1986 or of the other times in my life that I had gathered around the TV to gather news of a horrifying event. There was a connection with these people and the new ones that would walk up knowing that something had happened. You heard gasps and whispers as people found out.
The Accessnorthga.com web manager, Kathy Brew, was with me and we decided to go into DC and see the monuments. We listened to the radio and picked up new information on our trip in and out of the District of Columbia. The reports confirmed reluctantly what we knew, the Space Shuttle Columbia had exploded on reentry and all 7 astronauts were dead.
The weather in DC was foggy and cold and cast a pall over the day. We stopped at the Reflecting Pool to see if the anti-war rally had begun. There were not any people gathering. Maybe they would come later or maybe they would show respect and not come at all.
The Lincoln Memorial was moving as always, but more poignant today as I read the words of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. Everywhere we looked, there were reminders of the greatness of this country and it was somehow comforting to see them. The President was coming back to The White House by motorcade and I hoped he would draw strength from the landmarks as he passed them.
At the time of this writing, I do not know what the President will say about this day. I am collecting my thoughts while I am on an airplane that is 37,000 feet in the air. The shuttle was 200,000 feet in the air when contact was lost.
The Americans and one Israeli astronaut that lost their lives today are not average people.
They represent the best and the brightest to be offered to the world. They were trained and knew the risks and made their countries proud. The world is a little emptier today with the loss of these fine men and women.
Sam Donaldson and I were attempting to recall the events around the Challenger disaster of 1986. It was still the time where workers brought portable TVs to work to watch the launches. It was a time when shuttle launches were not routine.
There was not much fanfare around the January 16th launch of the space shuttle Columbia, but we will all remember where we were when we heard that it had been lost.
We wish Godspeed to the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. God bless you and your families and God Bless America and the World as we look back on this day.
Martha Zoller is the host of "The Martha Zoller Show" and is a regular news analyst for The Georgia Gang on Fox 5 Atlanta, on CNN and The Fox News Channel. You can email her at [email protected].
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/2/183232