By Angela Marshall
Marcus, a 15-year resident of Rockville Centre, immediately thought of another early-morning tragedy, the World Trade Center attacks. And then he thought of the fateful day in January 1986 when he watched the shuttle Challenger explode 73 seconds after liftoff. "I'm heartsick for the families and the country," he said while waiting for a train at the Rockville Centre Long Island Rail Road station on Monday.
Mission Control in Houston lost contact with Columbia about 9 a.m. on Feb. 1. Debris from the shuttle soon began falling from the skies above Texas. All seven astronauts on board -- Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon -- were killed. While speculation about damaged heat-resistant tiles on the left wing dominated the news, no definitive explanation for the cause of the tragedy has been offered. The shuttle's left wing was struck by a falling piece of fuel tank insulation during Columbia's Jan. 16 launch.
Marcus, who described himself as a supporter of the space program, remembered hearing about the falling insulation as he listened to news reports on Saturday and thought, Was this a fated flight?
"I like to think they have the best people making the best decisions," he said. But still, he wondered, "Were all the precautions taken that should have been?"
On Monday, flags flew at half-staff throughout the village in memory of the astronauts, and residents expressed shock at the latest national catastrophe. "I thought it was a tragedy," said Helen Bruzzo, who has lived in the village for more than 25 years. She said she sometimes wonders why Americans continue to support the space program. "It's so costly," she said. "It's so dangerous."
South Side High School science teacher Richard Kurtz said the benefits of the program definitely outweigh the cost. "Are you willing to give up your cell phone?" he asked rhetorically.
In addition to technological advances such as cell phones and satellite TV, missions in space have helped bring about medical advances through experiments carried out in the weightless environment.
David Seidman agreed with Kurtz, saying that while he believes NASA must find out what went wrong with the Columbia mission, the space program should not be held up for long. Seidman, a World War II veteran who has lived in Rockville Centre for more than 20 years, said, "They still have to go on."
