Our first day began with excitement, but along with our nation, ended in anger, confusion and fear. We have a chat room open with topside staff and received updates on the plane hijackings and the Trade Center collapsing. We couldn't see any footage and for a bit I felt like we weren't connected with the rest of the U.S. - going through the shock. However, looking at the other Aquanauts faces, I realized the impact was just a strong down here 50 feet deep, underwater. Isolated but connected. There was work to be done. And after their dive everyone came in reporting a great first day, but were immediately glued to the live news Internet site I had pulled up on the computer. Reminiscent of radio days we sat hunkered around the small video feed hanging on every word. The news sunk in and we got most of the story. As the weather above deteriorated and the ocean waves grew overhead our connection became more and more intermittent. Finally, when we were only getting a few words a minute, we gave up and went to bed. Like a nagging responsibility, the news hangs in everyone's mind. The mission will continue and hopefully will end with success. But, I'll remember this week as an American tragedy. History is written before us.