NJC Email from David Brown, astronaut

[Sarah]

Astronaut David Brown, who died when the shuttle exploded, kept in touch with friends and family by email during his time in space. On January 31, the day before his death, he wrote:

"It's hard to believe, but I'm coming up on 16 days in space, and we land tomorrow. . .

"The views of the Earth are really beautiful. If you've ever seen a space IMAX movie that's really what it looks like. What really amazes me is to see large geographic features with my own eyes. Today, I saw all of Northern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula, the whole country of Israel, and then the Red Sea. . .

". . . My most moving moment was reading a letter Ilan brought from a Holocaust survivor talking about his 7-year-old daughter who did not survive. I was stunned such a beautiful planet could harbor such bad things. It makes me want to enjoy every bit of the Earth for how great it really is.

"I will make one more observation -- if I'd been born in space I know I would desire to visit the beautiful Earth more than I've ever yearned to visit space. It is a wonderful planet."