It’s good to know that even in times of tragedy, such as today’s space shuttle disaster, the general feeling of the country (from what I can tell by watching CNN the past few hours) is that space exploration is still important and we want to continue learning about the universe of which we are a small part.
Also interesting to think about: The shuttle was on time passing over Dallas, TX at 9:00 AM eastern time and was scheduled to land on the east coast of Florida at 9:16 AM. That’s fast. It takes me more than twice as long to get to the Turnpike, less than 30 miles away.