Memories of shuttle Columbia...

I am still not sure what made me interested in the NASA space programs but I started to closely follow the shuttle launches and its missions sometime beginning 2000. It was a quite weekend morning and I was returning from my routine rollerblade stint in a nearby park when I heard the shocking news about the breakup of shuttle Columbia during re-entry. Just a couple of days before that ill-fated weekend, I saw the movie Apollo-13 and understood the nuances of shuttle's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. So I could actually make sense of what they were reporting about the heat sheilds and melting fuel tanks in the shuttle during re-entry. For some reason that was one of my most eagerly awaited shuttle returns for 2 reasons.. First, an Indian born Kalpana Chawla was on the mission... and second I read about the first Israeli astronaut aboard the shuttle and how his family is eagerly awaiting his return. I was completely shattered when I heard about the tragedy...
Why am I reminiscing about that disaster today? I was reading about the successful return of shuttle discovery(STS-114), and it suddenly transported me to that weekend and I decided to pen my thoughts about it. This time, I did actually said a small prayer before I went to bed on Monday for the safe return of Discovery. I am glad that they are all back home safe after a successful mission. I hope they fix the external fuel tank foam shielding for good before they send up the next shuttle.