donn@hpfcla.UUCP (02/03/86)
The crew of the Challenger died doing something they believed in, and the families of the crew have all indicated that they want the program to continue, and believe that the crew would have as well. Nevertheless we need to find ways to remember them and their sacrifice. There have been many ways suggested to memorialize these heros of our time, but I believe that they would feel the most honor by being remembered in a way that is part of the future that they were striving to build. We should remember not only the Challenger crew, but the crew of Apollo I as well, by making the memorials to them be the fruits of their beliefs. Specifically, the permanent manned off-planet facilities that we will someday build should be named for them. More specifically, the first three Lunar bases should be named for the crew of Apollo I, as their ultimate goal was the moon, and the first permanent manned space station might be named for Ronald McNair because that was so visibly his goal. Christa McAuliffe would be remembered in a most fitting way by naming the first school in space for her. To make memorials to fallen heros as meaningful as possible, the memorials must come to be within the lifetime of those who knew them. The finest way we can remember these people is to pick ourselves up and get on with the space program with a commitment to them to make their true, timely, and living memorial be the achievements for which they gave their lives. Donn Terry Ft. Collins Co.