More on the coverage: Apparently, a CBC interviewer asked if this was the result of "American Arrogance". Jeff Fecke (of Minnesota and Blog of The Moderate Left) responds, beautifully:
[Quote] Well, if this is arrogance--exploring space for science, pushing the envelope of the human experience, doing what our species has always done--then I support it. If it is arrogant to want to learn, we are arrogant. If it is arrogant to want to explore, we are arrogant. If it is arrogant to risk our lives for the possibility of a better future for all mankind, we are arrogant.
Mankind is arrogant. We believe foolish things--that we may one day cure cancer, that we may one day develop new forms of energy, that we may one day walk on Mars. We believe these foolish things, and we dedicate ourselves to achieving them. How ridiculous. How arrogant.
And people die for these things. And people are injured for life. The astronauts of Apollo 1, and the Challenger, and now, sadly, the Columbia have died for the arrogant belief that we can be more than we are, that we can walk on the moon, that we can touch the stars.
This arrogance is not American in nature. It is human. It is human arrogance that led us from the veldt of Africa to the ice-bound wastelands of Europe, across the Bering Strait into the Americas, across oceans to Australia and Oceana. It is human arrogance that leads thousands of people to live in the frigid environment of Antarctica, that leads explorers to dive miles under the oceans in bathyscapes.
This arrogance is our species' birthright. It is what defines us. If we were not arrogant, we never would have flown. We never would have domesicated the horse. We would have died in the caves, unwilling to strive to be more than we are.
So call us arrogant for building the space shuttle. Call the men and woman who gave their lives today arrogant for believing they could fly to space and return to tell about it. But don't call us wrong. For this arrogance defines humanity. And I would rather our species be arrogant than afraid. [Quote]
Huricos
· 6 years ago
it is sad, but remarkeble that so much space flights went right. the last space shuttle crash was with the challenger in the 80's.
Carlo Zottmann
· 6 years ago
Very true, Huricos. 17 years ago, almost exactly 17 years. Coincident, but scary nonetheless.
Lupus
· 6 years ago
Given the inherent dangers of strapping yourself to a many thousand ton tank of explosive material, it's thoroughly amazing that more bad things haven't happened. I feel for the astronauts who lost their lives, and their families too.
But I know how stringent NASA's requirements for doing anything are - they put the aviation industry's safety protocols to shame. I've often said that our expansion into space would be much accelerated if we allowed private companies to finance and implement space programmes, because they would accept a much higher risk to their astronauts than a government agency would (since their funding would not be contingent on public opinion of their activities).
But NASA as it is now checks, rechecks, and triple checks everything, to the extent of burning a huge amount of money ensuring the safety of everyone involved. The fact that accidents involved in space travel are so much higher profile than, say aviation disasters, make it seem worse - despite the fact that they don't really occur very often.
Beryl
· 6 years ago
We were running errands and saw the bank's flags at half mast. The city building's weren't; the Walmart's were. Walmart has TVs inside, which were tuned to the press release. A shuttle was lost. Oh shit.
Finished our errands, went home and hit the web for data. No real information yet. For now it's just staring at the screens, at each other, wondering what the hell happened.
As for comment #2, I say to Jeff Fecke, BRAVO! Well said! Let us not cower in our caves because of this loss. We must push on in our quest for the stars.
capnkjb
· 6 years ago
Hell, if nothing else, space holds potential as a garbage dump. That ought to make those assholes in Washington think twice.
Ahhh, gallows humor.
Zhaneel
· 6 years ago
Okay, I do feel for the men and women (woman?) who died.
But it was less than 10 people. Compared to a plane crash or a train accident or 9/11, that's nothing.
But it will slow down the space program. It will have us fall further behind. If there is even a HINT that terrorists had something to do with this, the funding from the space program will be funnelled to the "war on terrorism."
I am more pissed that we will be held back than I am upset that those brave people lost their lives chasing and accomplishing their dreams. They did more in their lives than most of us, and their death will only serve to prevent and postphone others who have that same dream.
All Comments
But I know how stringent NASA's requirements for doing anything are - they put the aviation industry's safety protocols to shame. I've often said that our expansion into space would be much accelerated if we allowed private companies to finance and implement space programmes, because they would accept a much higher risk to their astronauts than a government agency would (since their funding would not be contingent on public opinion of their activities).
But NASA as it is now checks, rechecks, and triple checks everything, to the extent of burning a huge amount of money ensuring the safety of everyone involved. The fact that accidents involved in space travel are so much higher profile than, say aviation disasters, make it seem worse - despite the fact that they don't really occur very often.
Finished our errands, went home and hit the web for data. No real information yet. For now it's just staring at the screens, at each other, wondering what the hell happened.
As for comment #2, I say to Jeff Fecke, BRAVO! Well said! Let us not cower in our caves because of this loss. We must push on in our quest for the stars.
Ahhh, gallows humor.
But it was less than 10 people. Compared to a plane crash or a train accident or 9/11, that's nothing.
But it will slow down the space program. It will have us fall further behind. If there is even a HINT that terrorists had something to do with this, the funding from the space program will be funnelled to the "war on terrorism."
I am more pissed that we will be held back than I am upset that those brave people lost their lives chasing and accomplishing their dreams. They did more in their lives than most of us, and their death will only serve to prevent and postphone others who have that same dream.
Zhaneel