John McCaslin has one of the last e-mails from space that Commander McCool of the Columbia sent. It is heartbreaking, yet inspirational.

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"PS — As I write, we just experienced a sunset over the Pacific, just [west] of Chile. I'm sitting on the flight deck in the CDR seat (front right) with a view of the Earth moving gracefully by. Sunsets and sunrises from space come every 45 minutes, and last only about 30 seconds, but the colors are stunning. In a single view, I see looking out at the edge of the Earth — red at the horizon line, blending to orange, then yellow; followed by a thin white line, then light blue, gradually turning to dark blue, then various gradually darker shades of gray, then black with a million stars above. It's breath-taking."