Epic Men

Epic men of flesh and stone Travel where are found no bones; The deepest, where no man before Could open hope's remaining door. The men of constellation's fame Borrowed time, their epic names, To fight odd battles in the sky That no one now remember why. Still there's a corner, not forgot, An alien, though homelike plot, Where men of flesh and stone will lie In state, the doomed spaceship's flight. They'll rest forever on the cusp Of magic finds, made in our trust, So teach the young their names instead Of ancient heroes, too long dead. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Nixon Whitehouse had a just-in-case statement ready for deployment, in 1969, composed by speechwriter William Safire, in the event that the astronauts met an unhappy or unanticipated end, during their monumental space flight.