Columbia

don't ask why · Post by **don't ask why** » 2/1/2003, 10:30 am

Please pray for the families.

Corey · Post by **Corey** » 2/1/2003, 10:54 am

a sad sad day for NASA. I would like to send out my deepest condolences to the families of the crew.

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 2/1/2003, 3:30 pm

the horrible thing about space missions is that, if something goes wrong, then all the people who die are some of the brightest, best-educated, most accomplished people the country has to offer. now that's just a fucking shame.

One-Eye · Post by **One-Eye** » 2/1/2003, 3:52 pm

This, needless to say, is not good.

nelison · Post by **nelison** » 2/1/2003, 5:23 pm

you can find positives though,
maybe Bush will put back the funding he slashed from NASA to help fund his war. It was inevitable this would happen. Columbia's been used since 1981, obviously anything that takes so much stress over a long period of time is gonna fall apart. Hopefully it'll open some eyes and maybe politicians in the USA will worry more about domestic problems than international ones.

Does anyone find something wrong when you're killing 6 of your brightest citizens and one of the brightest Isrealis, all because you want to save money so you can fight other countries and then kill more of your people in the process?
Something seems utterly wrong with that.

lora · Post by **lora** » 2/1/2003, 5:32 pm

...or it could be one step closer to abolishing the space program. it could go either way.

Axtech · Post by **Axtech** » 2/1/2003, 5:34 pm

That seems more like something Bush would do...

lora · Post by **lora** » 2/1/2003, 5:35 pm

exactly.

sandsleeper · Post by **sandsleeper** » 2/1/2003, 5:54 pm

the value of a life cannot be measued by intelligence.

i think that one of the saddest things is that, to israel, the israeli aboard the space shuttle represented a tremendous triumph in a sea of despair, and now it's just become another tragedy for them.

luckyJQ9 · Post by **luckyJQ9** » 2/1/2003, 6:59 pm

I'm deeply saddened that this tragedy had to occur. I, being the big nerd I am, have been following NASA space activity for years and I actually wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger, so this hit me pretty hard. Like others said, it's especially bad because it is a tragic accident in which the lives of the best and brightest are lost, people who are completely innocent of everything except being endowed with special skills and gifts.

As far as the NASA program is concerned, I am a strong supporter of it and believe that it is responsible for some amazing successes and gains in technology and information. I don't think that any funding should be cut, and instead support an increase of which. I would much rather donate my tax dollars to fueling exploration than war. I can only hope that NASA will continue to receive needed dollars and that its investigation of the unknown will not cease.

My prayers go out to all those who have felt the reverberations of this tragedy...

And those are my thoughts...

lukin · Post by **lukin** » 2/1/2003, 7:15 pm

J-Neli wrote:you can find positives though,
maybe Bush will put back the funding he slashed from NASA to help fund his war. It was inevitable this would happen. Columbia's been used since 1981, obviously anything that takes so much stress over a long period of time is gonna fall apart. Hopefully it'll open some eyes and maybe politicians in the USA will worry more about domestic problems than international ones.

Does anyone find something wrong when you're killing 6 of your brightest citizens and one of the brightest Isrealis, all because you want to save money so you can fight other countries and then kill more of your people in the process?
Something seems utterly wrong with that.

Even if there wasn't threats of a war there wouldn't be a new space shuttle, the funding is low because of our nation has lost interest in space exploration etc, and because of it you won't see a lot of money heading there. If you think its because of a possible wars than why didn't the Clinton administraion do something about it? All the people aboard that ship new there is always a chance that something can go wrong, so don't say the government is killing people.

luckyJQ9 · Post by **luckyJQ9** » 2/1/2003, 7:25 pm

lukin wrote:
Even if there wasn't threats of a war there wouldn't be a new space shuttle, the funding is low because of our nation has lost interest in space exploration etc, and because of it you won't see a lot of money heading there. If you think its because of a possible wars than why didn't the Clinton administraion do something about it? All the people aboard that ship new there is always a chance that something can go wrong, so don't say the government is killing people.

Agreed. NASA started losing funding a long time ago. It's nothing new...and it's not the government's fault that the Columbia blew up. Even if it was a mechanical failure, it could not have been seen coming. The Columbia was designed to withstand a hundred missions, and there is always a risk when going on such a mission. I think the accident rate for space travel is something like 1 in 70 or 1 in 100 so chances were that something would eventually happen. It's not that the Columbia was old, because it had been rehabed so that it would remain up to date. But who knows what the real reason for the accident was. It'll be interesting to wait and see what the investigation concludes. I wouldn't blame it on the war though...

Post by **faninor** » 2/2/2003, 3:00 am

If they didn't have the funding for maintenance on their shuttles, NASA would not be flying them.

And I actually seem to remember the Bush administration's proposed budget for 2002 had $14.5 billion in it for NASA, which was an increase from 2001, and their proposed budget for NASA in 2003 was $15 billion. I think that doubles the number of times NASA's budget was increased while Clinton was president.

Hating Bush is no excuse for ignorance.

Sufjan Stevens · Post by **Sufjan Stevens** » 2/2/2003, 10:29 am

I hate Bush because I don't want to dodge bullets in Iraq. I think that's a good enough reason to hate him.

nelison · Post by **nelison** » 2/2/2003, 10:53 am

Obviously it wasn't to the point that they weren't able to fix their shuttle. I'm just saying why would you keep using a shuttle over and over again for 20+ years. I'm sure the people at NASA knew this would happen sooner or later but really couldn't do much about it beyond repairing their shuttle. Possibly all this money that they're spending on the upcoming war could have been used on more domesticated problems such as their Space Program.

I'm not being ignorant to the problem. I've read countless articles in creditable newspapers and magazines about the future of the space program, and the funding they are receiving isn't near the amount that they need.

Yes there are bigger problems in the US than their space program, but I think it's quite obvious that there is ample amounts of money going towards this war, that should be going towards other major problems in their own country.

Post by **faninor** » 2/2/2003, 12:04 pm

You would keep using a shuttle for 20 years because it was designed for at least 100 flights.

don't ask why · Post by **don't ask why** » 2/2/2003, 12:42 pm

Being an engineer student, I know that space shuttles have a certain operational life to them. This is accounted for by safety factor, fatigue, temeprature effects and many other things. So it would normally be safe to use it for 20 years. Now it could all just be an accident, which is very probable, but on the other side, I think that somewhere, somehow, someone screwed up a calculation (and the people triple checking) screwed it up too. Of course, nothing can be done about this as humans are humans - we make mistakes. Even geniuses. These things happen not just cause of one thing - but because of a multitude of happenings. So one cannot solely point a finger at Bush, a scientist, etc. Unfortunately, we should try to learn from this tragedy - life is precious. Otherwise the ghosts will come back to haunt us. I'm pretty sure that if a shuttle was unsafe, NO people would be allowed on it. I do disagree with the war with Iraq, but justifying money for the space program above health care, infrastructure, education is not right. If there are starving kids on the street, (not just kids), if there are people dying because they cannot get an operation, then I would say that ALL money for the Space Program and the war with Iraq has to be condemned.

nelison · Post by **nelison** » 2/2/2003, 1:47 pm

I agree.
well said.

luckyJQ9 · Post by **luckyJQ9** » 2/2/2003, 2:12 pm

I'm just saying that you can't blame NASA's lack of funding on Bush and the pending war. NASA lost most funding during the Clinton administration and like someone else said, Bush is actually putting money back in. While I think that more money should be spent on NASA I agree though that there are more important domestic issues, education, healthcare, stuff like that, and if the money wasn't going to war, I would much rather it go there first. Hopefully, if any good can come from this disaster it will be that there will be a reignited interest in the space program and funding will increase. Maybe a little less war would be good too...

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 2/2/2003, 3:55 pm

sandsleeper wrote:the value of a life cannot be measued by intelligence.

of course not, that's not what i meant, it's just that these are the people who are the most likely to make the most noteworthy contributions to our lives as a society. I value education and educated people very highly.