Like gawking at the traffic accident on the other side of the freeway. As the traffic is slowing I am saying, 'c'mon folks, don't gawk...' all the while I am trying to fool myself and sneak quick glances to see what happened. We can be so pathetic sometimes... at least I can.
Absolutely terrible ! I find it bizarre that an Israeli was on board and they are finding debris In Palestine Texas.
During the period of the "space" race, when the advancement of space flight was considered a show of superiority over the Russian space program, and thus a victory for democracy over communism, the space program of today is mostly lost from our consciousness. Now it is nothing more than a scientific process, with no real tie to the political aspects. Still, space exploration represents to many an American the hope and faith Americans put in science as the savior of mankind's problems. So, even an accident is viewed as a "loss" beyond the lives of the victims and their immediate family. It becomes an "American" failure, and is probably over dramatized for that reason. Space flight, dating back to the beginning and the vision of Kennedy and others, was viewed by the world as something symbolic of America's future. It frightens Americans to think that we are not in control. I always find it interesting for a country who claims to have such faith in God, to be so fearful and worrisome during periods and events like this. In reality, this "tragedy" is no more tragic than a team of scientists who perish doing work in Antarctica due to a mechanical problem, or underwater scientists who perish do to mechanical failure or weather related causes. People project onto events their own consciousness, their own fears and hopes.
I'm just speaking from my own experiences. I can recall the day Challenger exploded much more clearly than any plane crash. I think a big difference is that there are thousands of takeoffs each day with airplanes but only one shuttle launch every so often. Plus, they don't spend hundreds of millions of dollars preparing a plane for take-off. I don't know how many shuttles are left, but this is going to damage the space program tremendously over the next two-three years. There is a video of some heat insulation falling off the main-center fuel canister and striking one of the wings of Columbia during take off. Unfortunately, my hypothesis is that it either damaged the heat shielding on the shuttle or caused some sort of damage that made the shuttle unable to reach the proper pitch degree during re-entry.
magic numbers Challenger Columbia 1986.1.28 Tue. 2003.2.1 Sat. liftoff (1min26sec?) reentry(60/16?min eta) cold weather mild clear day 7 crew members ? 1 female explosion breakup?? ? no.28th/no.113th total
I don't know why astronauts are considered heroes. Anybody who thinks the human race is going to be able to leave this planet and go live elsewhere in the universe has been watching way too much Star Trek, and does not understand the realities of the universe and the insurpassable distances between our planet and any conceivably habitable planets. I pray for the animals and their bereft families that Vice-president Dick Cheney was busy killing when he received news of this shuttle event. And I pray for the Iraqis and their families that are almost certain to be slaughtered by Bush and Blair and all those who obey their ruthless orders in the next month or so.
Probably because they're willing to strap themselves inside a container being propelled by millions of pounds of solid and liquid fuel with odds of 1 in 438 (NASA) that they won't make it back -- all for the advancement of science so that you can enjoy the benefits here on Earth.
NASA's main role now (besides Los Alamos) is to impliment cutting edge technology. It's ironic that this could be officially be called next week a mechanical failure of a tile coming off and hitting a wing or tail rudder that changes the angle of decent. Needless to say every materials brain here is having his brain picked apart. This will have less of an impact than the 87 explosion but doesn't make it any less tragic.
At one time, lots and lots of people probably said man will never be able to fly. Wrong. Praying for animals....? So I guess you are a vegetarian then right? Well, then perhaps we should pray for the plants too. Unless of course you exist only on water, tofu, and chicken mcnuggets. Except for the water, I cannot figure out what the other two are. As for praying for the Iraqis and their families... yes I pray for all of them too, even Saddam Hussein, hoping that his heart will soften for his people, that he will come forward in honesty, that he will retreat hastily from his deceitful ways thus sparing the lives of those who will be lost as a direct result of his wrongful actions.
god bless america I hope this does not mean the end of our space program my prayers go out to all affected ...