We turned on the projector so everyone could see, even with bleary, bloodshot eyes.

A large group of people, tens of thousands, were gathered on a plain somewhere. They walked into a formation, like a band on a football field.

Then they each held up a posterboard. The pieces soon all touched forming a huge sign. It was like fans at a stadium creating a team emblem out of individual colored pieces.

The sign read “U R our…” Then they all flipped them over in a huge wave, synchronized.

“HOPE” The colored background was a huge rocket.

It was a desperate plea. We replayed the video all through breakfast. Then we solemnly set to work with renewed purpose.

I sent emails out to any place I could think of, CNN , NASA, to get the message to the world that we heard them. Loud and clear.
_

The Russians left after about 10 days with us. They took back one of the first “space sprouts” to show the world that we were doing everything we could to save them. It gave them hope.

And they gave us motivation.