But they did.
When Apollo 13- well, we know all about that. It was the most amazingly heroic thing I had ever heard. But memories of Apollo 1 hit me. I was 8 and the news reports of skipping into space, burning up on re-entry or everything else, worried me sick. *More* people were going to die! I cried because I didn't think they were going to live.
But they did.
I grew up with the space programme. It was established before I was born. My learn-to-read books were full of grainy B&W photos of splash-downs, launches, and LtCol. Ed White floating above the world tetherd to his spaceship by the thinnest of cords. All those books had the last chapter that speculated "To the Moon!" A lot of grown-ups said we'd never land there.
But they did and I turned 8 on that day.
The radio came on.
I was out of bed and glued to the telly in seconds. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 73 seconds... That can't happen! It's the SHUTTLE, for fuck's sake! They don't do that!
They replayed the same images over and over again. 73 seconds- blam! 73 seconds- blam! 73 seconds- blam! 73 seconds- blam! 73 seconds- blam! Wide angle shots, close-ups, slo-mo... Shuttles don't do that.
But it did.
People have been going into orbit for almost 50 years, and it is still not a routine mission. Things happen, ships fail, and people die.
And when they do we can do nothing but cry.