When i was first heard about Columbia today, my heart was filled with so many emotions. Prior to breaking my neck, my life goal was to be an astronaut… i had even gone so far as to applying and getting the nominations necessary to go to the Naval Academy (since so many astronauts came from there). I was obsessed with space in every way. I remember the Challenger and the confusion that i had sitting in that classroom as my teacher completely lost it (his friend from college was on board). So hearing this brought back all of those memories of loss and sadness. Yet, in spite of all of this tragedy, i received a note revealing a quote from Kalpana Chawla that reminds me of why space is so important to so many of us. When asked about her Indian heritage, she said: “When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.”