Two Hundred Thousand Feet
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On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was concluding its 28th mission after a 16-day scientific journey in orbit. The shuttle carried a crew of seven extraordinary individuals from the United States, India, and Israel, symbolizing the boundless reach of humanity’s curiosity and unity. Tragically, as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere, damage sustained to the shuttle's left wing during launch caused the orbiter to disintegrate over Texas and Louisiana. The entire crew was lost, and the world mourned their sacrifice. This poem is written to honor the legacy of Columbia and the brave explorers who carried our dreams to the stars.
Listen to poem:
One first flight, Columbia’s name.
Seven souls aboard, bound for fame.
Six days, then ten, experiments thrive,
Eighty hearts of science, dreams alive.
Sixteen days, the Earth they skim,
Reentry calls—light fades dim.
Tick-tick, hiss-hiss, crack-crack—a sound,
A breach unseen, the heat unwound.
1.67 pounds, a foam unseen,
Pierced the wing, unstitched the dream.
40 miles high, the flames collide,
Mach eighteen, as heat did stride.
Mach fifteen—a fiery scream,
The air ignites, the fragile seams.
Seven names, carved deep in space,
Their sacrifice, a lasting grace.
At 9:00 a.m., a nation cried,
29 months, the fleet must bide.
Tick-tick, sigh-sigh, hush-hush—we wait.
Columbia’s legacy will navigate.
Eighty dreams and the minds they fed,
We honor the fallen, their voices not dead.
Copyright © Joel Hawksley | Year Posted 2025
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