Chris Pirillo points to a nice video in memory of the astronauts.

I didn't realize that most of the astronauts come to Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley regularly to train. So says this Mercury News article, which covers the life of Kalpana Chawla.

My wife last night was chastising me for spending so much time moping about and watching TV yesterday. Her main argument was that these were seven lives, and why do I care about them more than I care about any other seven lives? Glenn Reynolds refutes a similar point here. It does come down to "are some lives worth more than others?" doesn't it? And, in many ways, the astronauts who died yesterday are worth more than you or me. Why? Because they were put into a position of doing research to help all of us out. Science is like that. As Dave Winer points out, the computers we're all using came directly out of space research. I've seen tons of materials come out of space research. Our view of the planet and our view of god (or whatever created us) came out of space research. We are looking upward and wondering. These seven people were our smartest and bravest. Yes, they are worth more than most other seven lives.