Columbia's Mission Continues

I really like the fact that Columbia is not going to just buried like
Challenger was, but used for continued research. These next two
paragraphs from the Reuters September 12 story made me good about not
letting Columbia just die, and refers to the ship in the present tense:

"We still consider Columbia to be part of our fleet, just like the other
three orbiters. This way it remains useful; its mission continues,"
Thurston said Thursday.

Columbia offers aerospace designers a unique opportunity to study
materials exposed to the catastrophic environment of a breakup while
traveling at 20 times the speed of sound in temperatures that reached
3000 degrees Fahrenheit.

It would be nice if they could find some use for Challenger as well. I
just hate thinking of it just rotting away in missle silos when it could
be useful and allow its legacy to continue.

Mark