It's been interesting as I have thought about the space program, the Columbia, and Bradbury's stories. When both stories (The Rocket Man and Kaleidoscope) end in the death of the astronauts, why do they still seem fitting stories at this time?

I think some of it goes to some thoughts from an Op/Ed that Sally Ride published on Feb 5th, called,, "Astronauts know the risks involved". Sally Ride, if you remember, was the first American Woman in space. She is now a physics professor. Her opening and closing comments in the article speak to why we go on in the space program in spite of our losses, and to the fact that the astronauts ARE heroes as they are well aware of the risks they take each time they go up.

"Every astronaut who goes up knows the risks he or she faces. And every astronaut has to assess that risk and come to terms with it. There is no astronaut in the nation who isn't well aware of the delicate nature of the flight . . . But the space program must go on. It is an example of what we can achieve as a people if we put our minds to it. You can see the fascination and wonder that it inspires by looking into the eyes of kids. When I talk to them about space, I can see the stars in their eyes. They are fascinated by it. They are motivated by it. It speaks to something that is inside all of us: the human drive to explore. The human drive to understand. These are very powerful forces."

The thing in these two stories by Mr. Bradbury is that they deal honestly with the risks of space travel. There are no illusions that danger goes away with experience. Space is a hostile frontier. But that frontier is "out there" and we, as a species, are going to go. What these two stories do is put human faces on the astronauts and, at the same time, capture the inherent urge of man to explore and expand his horizons -- both geographically and intellectually.

The Rocket Man is a father and husband. He is torn between his need to go into space and his desire to be with the family. When home, he longs for space; when in space, he longs for home. When on earth, he works tenaciously in the garden, getting his hands in the dirt, grounding himself on the planet. It also speaks to the fears and concerns of the family left behind. While they may not underestand all the technical details of the risk the astronaut has, they have no illusions about the reality of the risk. The wife in this story acts like the husband is dead. She knows that he may end up dead, and this is her way of dealing with it. If he is already dead, there is no loss. The Rocket Man knows the impact on his wife. He tells his son that he is not there for her, and he obviously is torn by that emotion. The son tries to understand space. He's proud of his father, but unsure of the risks. He wants those risks grounded and explained. When he asks his father, "How many ways are there to die in space?" and his father tells him, "a million", his son asks him to name them. Why does he want them named? Because it makes it more real and measurable. It's like the son in the movie "Apollo 13" who asks his father about the three astronauts who died in the fire. Did he know them? Did they fix the problem? He is trying to get a handle on the risks so he can deal with them at whatever level he can. While this story is grounded on earth and is not in outer space, Mr. Bradbury captures the issues of space travel and how they impact these men (and women, now) and thier families. When reading the biographies of the seven astronauts in the Columbia, you are able to capture the humanity of each of them. They had families, education, life goals, friends, belief systems, etc. They were real. This is what Bradbury captures in The Rocket Man.

In Kaleidoscope, you have a similar thing. In this story, a rocket in space comes apart, hurling the astronauts out into separate directions. Because they have no power packs, they have no control over their speed or direction. They have radio contact with each other as they become pieces of space debris. One of the astronauts asks what happened. The answer is, "The rocket blew up, that's all. Rockets do blow up." The matter-of-fact nature of the hostility of space and the inherent risk of space travel is an assumed by Bradbury. There is no sugar-coating or glorifying space travel. He keeps it all very real. As the men go off in their separate directions, they work through the emotions as they each reflect on their own lives. Some with calm and peace, some with anger and resentment.

At the end of Kaleidoscope, a young boy and his mother see what looks like a falling star as the astronaut comes into the atmosphere. She says to him, "Make a wish . . . Make a wish." At the end of The Rocket Man the family is very slow in recovering from the impact of the death of their husband and father.

These stories seem fitting because, as Sally Ride said, there is risk inherent in going into a hostile environment, where, as she said in her article, " . . . where everything has to go exactly right." Bradbury captures this in The Rocket Man when the father answers his son's question about what can go wrong in space with, "A million things."

And yet, we go.

It's a sad world...

[This message has been edited by MadDog (edited 02-13-2003).]

While there is a lot of sadness in the world, I don't believe it is necessary that it be a sad world.

I think that's what love, friendship, fellowship, faith, learning, laughter, touching, etc., are all about. We become a community as we work together to overcome the obstacles that are inherent in life. I don't think this is overly sentimental. It doesn't deny evil and pain and fear and loneliness. (This is part of what I like about Bradbury's stories -- evil and good co-exist and create real human conflict.) But they -- evil, bad things -- do not need to exist in isolation from the other parts of life that I think are gifts we can give each other.

I think a real tragedy is the number of young people who are so lonely and feel so helpless that they contemplate, attempt and sometimes commit suicide. For these kids -- whether suffering from chemical or emotional causes, or both -- there is no sense of shared community. When you are isolated and alone (not through choice, like a monk or something) life could become very sad.

That's why we need to do what we can to make each person's life a little better.

And don't you think that there is more of a sense of isolation today than years ago? People know their neighbors less and less, people move more often, change jobs more often, etc. so less and less ties are established. This is so ironic, and Ray would be one of the first to point it out, when you think how much better our communication devices are today--cell phones, computers, fax machines, etc. It seems like better communication devices but less and less real communication every day. I think this is part of the problem today leading to so many suicides. Of course there are many other factors, but I feel there is this increasing isolation and deep down loneliness that leads so many to despair. If you've never read or seen the Bradbury Theater version of "The Murderer," definitely check it out. It is one of my favorite stories and definitely speaks to this issue.

I believe everygeneration has its identical worries and problems.

Technology may be the only thing that seems to set things apart. Otherwise, same fears, same hopes, same expectations, same dreams, same pains, same fears, same deaths...

I read something last month about how America is falling apart... a gripping, no- holds-bar, evaluation of the tearing apart of the moral fiber of America. Hmm! Twas written in the 30's. I found a few passages, last year, same kind of stuff... written a hundred years ago. I bet you can start digging and find stuff exactly contemporary...500 years ago.... 1000 years ago... It's because the tearing down always occurs... Yet the artists, the painters, the musicians, the creators and thinkers for a better tomorrow, envision the stuff that's inside each one...eternity, breathing, crying, calling...for release....

I see a lot of sadness. More than happiness anyway

[This message has been edited by MadDog (edited 03-15-2003).]