''I was raised in New York,'' writes Joyce S. Let us turn now to the happier story on the same subject: the space probe Voyager 2 (again no comma, because there is more than one space probe) passed by the seventh planet from the sun and caused great consternation among those who would pronounce the name of the planet correctly. But there exist three others, which is why the correct phrase is the space shuttle Challenger. If written as the space shuttle, Challenger, the phrase before the comma would specifically describe the noun, meaning ''Challenger is the name of the space shuttle,'' as if there is no other space shuttle. The absence of the comma is easily explained. Why is there no comma before the proper noun Challenger? A few queries came in about language used in connection with the space shuttle Challenger, and it is not to trivialize the nation's sense of loss to deal here with matters of grammar associated with the event. Triumph and tragedy, to use Churchill's alliteration, have been felt by Americans watching the skies in recent weeks. You cannot look into the night sky without knowing your gods and goddesses, and cannot speak of space without an ear for current pronunciation. IN THE LANGUAGE OF the heavens, myth has become reality.
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