Thurman P. Woodfork

COLUMBIA, FINAL FLIGHT

Returning to Earth, their mission almost done,
As the world watched in shocked disbelief,
Three contrails appeared where there had been one;
Happy celebration slowly melted into grief.
Scattered across the land on that fatal day,
The Shuttlecraft was lost, with all hands on board.
A stunned nation could only gaze upward and pray;
Columbia had established its orbit about the Lord.